FLASHBACK: Alyss Hart's Initiation thread: Meeting Karasu Ammo (Closed)

Karasu smiled when she created flames from her hand. She saw through it. An instinct of an assassin is more important then most things, including the strength the person possesses. Karasu let go of her cheek, then placed the gun back behind her. However, he was still close to her lips. "You pass. You're more of an assassin then I could have hoped for in a new recruit, to think, I could have lost you in that house fire." Karasu continued speaking, his tone turned almost cheery. Of course, this was Karasu trying to lighten the mood.. he was an expert at changing expressions in an instant. "I watched the entire battle between you and the men, I even saw you rescuing the little girl. I was impressed. I thought I was the only assassin with some morals." He raised his hand to shake it with the naked Alyss's hand. "I'm Karasu, King of Assassins in a small island, you probably don't know the shichibukai.. but I used to be one of them, might become one again in the near future." Karasu smiled.

"I'd like you to join my crew of assassins. If you're interested, of course. If anything this experience has made me a little more interested in you." Karasu meant a lot of things in the sentence, but he didn't explain them. If the girl refused he'd have to find another way to convince her.

Alyss smiled slightly, although she felt kind of off because he had threatened her safety in a way, even if it was just a trial. She listened to him, his real name was Karasu, and he was a shichibukai, whatever that was. Alyss guessed she was a sort of pirate, or maybe marine? She wasn't sure. She would have to ask him that later, not like it really mattered anyway, he wasn't one anymore, or for now. "I have morals, even if i was raised to not have them" she commented and shook his hand. She didn't know whether to join his crew of assassins or not. Of course, that would be the way to not waste her powers, and who knows, she might be able to do something good from it, but she didn't feel exactly sure about it. Mostly because Crow, well, Karasu, had kind of threatened her with a gun. Of course, she had sensed the danger, but she didn't know that it was him causing it. Not like she would acknowledge that.

Alyss made a humming noise and then sighed. "I don't know if I should join or not. For starters, I don't know what a shichibukai is. I also don't know whether you belong to the marines or pirates? And what do you specifically do? Why should I join? i know it'd be a way to not waste my powers, but ... I don't know... I simply don't know"

Karasu ok a mental note of her questions, then answered them each individually. He positioned himself back to his original sitting stance. His arms were around Alyss, and his eyes were looking at the sky. His gun was behind her back, but it was on the floor aiming at the wall. "A shichibukai is a pirate hired by the marines to cause terror to other pirates. They are strong, and powerful pirates. They keep their plunder, and serve the government by doing a few deeds. In exchange they are allied with the marines, so they aren't attacked, and in my case.. I'm allowed to do business with them." Karasu sighed, he was explaining information everyone else already knew. This girl was definitely stuck in the island she mentioned, the story couldn't be false because everyone else in the world knew what a shichibukai was. "I do contracts for money, being a shichibukai, or warlord of the sea, helps me keep my contracts.. open." Karasu then smiled when he was about to answer the final question, "You should join.. because you want too."

Alyss nodded as Karasu continued to explain what Shichibukais were and things. "So you're kind of like a good pirate? Sort of? What do you mean with contracts? As in, jobs? I'm not quite sure what you mean by that" Alyss continued firing questions at Karasu, she wanted to make sure that she understood everything completely before making the decision. Then once he added the reason why she should join Alyss smiled, she was amused. "Oh? And how do you know I want to join your crew?" she teased him and elbowed him gently in the ribs. "I wouldn't be so sure if I were you, Karasu" she joked. She was starting to feel at ease with him again, now that the gun wasn't being pointed at her, and everything. Besides, she had to admit that the smile he gave when giving the reason why she should join made her heart skip a beat, but she decided to ignore it and continue asking questions.

She elbowed him on the ribs, gently, when she said he shouldn't be sure about her wanting to join. Karasu couldn't help but feel that she was toying with him, which seemed fine with him. It almost made him feel normal. Karasu smiled when she called him a good pirate, he hasn't been called that in a very long time. He had to correct her, or she'd be surprised by the things he did to other good people. "I'm not a good pirate, I do what has to be done for the sake of money. But there are jobs I won't accept. As for the jobs.." Karasu stood up from the hot spring and walked up to the changing room, he never came in with a towel.. he didn't care. Karasu went in his coat and grabbed a piece of plastic covered paper and walked back to Alyss. Karasu put his legs around her left and right side and put the white plastic sheet of paper, water proof, in front of her with the following in print:

"To The Crow Where Death Follows Him,
I am in dire need of some assistance, I'm sure you don't need to know the details because a man of your reputation doesn't care. What you'd like to know is the amount of money you'll get paid. Meet me in Maroone Island where I will pay you 50 million belli for the death of a certain noble. Details are in this package, including details to my bank in the off chance I do not make it to our meeting. You can check the bank right now and take the money I promised you, I'm sure you won't take more then I promised you."

Karasu then spoke, "Inside the paper was detailed instructions to meeting him, and even more detailed instructions on his target.. including the usual areas where he is seen. This is a typical job for my assassins, although sometimes we get paid much more money then this." Karasu tried to explain the best he could.

Alyss nodded, understanding what Karasu meant with jobs now that she had an example to go by. She felt slightly awkward with Karasu being in this position with her, mostly because she knew now that he was naked, and she was almost naked at the moment (only wearing a towel). But she decided, once again, against saying anything about it. "Well, this seems normal and easy peasy... but how do you know whether to do the job or not? Do you do extra background research on the target, to verify? Or do they always give you the full information? Does it depend on the client?" She turned her head slightly so she could see Karasu. "And if you and your assassins can do this, why do you need me, or more like want me in your crew?" Alyss asked with a small smile.

She knew she was making things difficult for Karasu, but to be honest, it was all revenge for the gun part. She hadn't been expecting an attack, she was without her katana, and even if she had her devil fruit powers, she was still not comfortable fighting with only a towel on.

Karasu sighed, then answered the other round of questions. "The Clients don't usually give us this much information, and if they don't we research for them. Of course, that usually costs them much more money. In the end we get paid for killing, and the clients get what they want. It makes the world go round." Then she asked why he needed her, and he decided to lay back down in the water, this time in front of her, and talked to her within an inch from her face. He whispered to her so nobody else could listen. "I want you in my crew because you'll be very useful to me. It's as simple as that. You'll finally have the life of freedom you wanted, a life where you can use your gifts of assassination because you accepted someone's offer, not because that person forced you. You'll have the freedom of using your gifts whichever way you want with the knowledge you already possess." Karasu smiled, waiting for a response from Alyss. He didn't have a pistol in his hand, which put him in a very weak position. Yet, he faced her with no fear in his eyes.

Alyss stared into Karasu's eyes while she tried to make her decision. Yes, he was right, she would be able to use her gifts for assassination, and she would enjoy her freedom, joining only because she decided to accept his offer, but at the same time, after joining, wouldn't she stop being free? She would be under his orders, and she wasn't sure how she felt about that yet. But while staring into his eyes she decided that she couldn't see anything wrong with joining his crew. After all, she had nowhere to go anyway, and having a crew, teammates, and him, would be certainly something nice. A good change from her life when she left the island.

Alyss sighed and nodded, smiling brightly. "Fine, you convinced me" she was smiling like never before. Mainly because she had made a decision to change for the better, to finally be able to use the freedom that her fight gave her.

Karasu listened attentively, and heard her answer. She said yes. Now he had to seal the deal, with men it was usually with w handshake.. or after a long grueling battle. However, she showed something more then just power, she showed a natural instinct to being an assassin. Karasu crept closer to her and held her chin lightly with his thumb and index finger, he then raised her chin gently to his level. Karasu inched closer to her in a steady motion until his lips and hers connected. Karasu held her chin up while doing this. When a few seconds passed her he slowly finished with a soft separation of their lips, making a sound after completely disconnecting. Karasu watched her eyes.

"Welcome to the crew.. Alyss."

Alyss closed her eyes when his lips connected hers. She couldn't say she felt "butterflies" in her stomach or anything like that, but she did feel extremely happy, and she felt like she wanted to know a lot more about Karasu than she did right now. But everything had its time and now wasn't the right time for asking any more questions. She smiled once the kiss was finished and heard Karasu welcoming her to the crew. "Thanks, please take care of me" she said nodding her head slightly. She leaned on the wall behind her and sighed. "This place is so relaxing, I like it" she commented. "I have read about hot springs, but this is my first time actually going to one" she added and smiled at Karasu.

Karasu smiled. "Yes, this is my.. third time in a hot spring, the second wasn't exactly a pleasant experience. Well then. Now that you are a part of my crew, I need to see your strength.. follow me." Karasu stood up, in front of Alyss, and walked over her and continued towards the mens changing room. Within a few seconds he was already outside the spa waiting for Alyss in the other side. When he sees her he'll continue walking towards the shore where a very long submarine (over 150 feet) is waiting for them. When they arrived Karasu looked at it and inhaled deeply, then let out all of the air in his lungs. He was glad of the ship he created with Tough's help. Karasu then attempted to grab Alyss by going underneath her, putting one hand close to her bum to hold her and the other on her upper back, then ran to the ship in soru speeds located a few hundred feet away. When Karasu landed on the ship he put Alyss next to him and opened the hatch so he could climb down with the metallic ladder inside, and a long hall with black metal walls and floor waited for them.

They were in Dark Isle's Shadow

To Lost:

Alyss decided that she liked this, more or less, stranger's smile. It seemed rare as he didn't really look like someone that would smile often, however she was just basing her opinions on hypothesis, she didn't know him enough to know anything for sure. When Karasu mentioned the second time being in a hot spring as something unpleasant, Alyss wondered what had happened to make it unpleasant. Maybe someone tried to molest him, a man or a woman, which made Alyss giggle a bit in her head, since Karasu seemed to be strong, and he was a shichikakau or whatever (she didn't know the name, since she didn't really pay attention.) so that would have made sense.

Alyss blushed deeply when Karasu stood up, showing his... manliness, which was, by the way, right in front of her face for a good couple of seconds. He also walked over her, so she looked down, her cheeks tomato red from the embarrassment and only looked up once he had left the hot spring. It had been the first time Alyss had seen someone naked (the previous occasion as well, ((some posts ago))) and she didn't really know what to comment about it, so she just decided to forget it had ever happened.

Once she had gotten over the fact that she had seen a man's... a man's... thingy, she stood up, still with a towel around herself (unlike Karasu, she wasn't comfortable showing off her body), and headed towards the women's dressing room. She put on all her clothes and wielded her katana, going outside once she was ready. She found Karasu waiting for her and she couldn't help but blush, remembering what happened in the hot spring (both the kiss AND the thingy part, mostly the last one). He started walking and Alyss realized that he meant for her to follow, so she did that.

After some minutes they found themselves in the beach. Alyss saw something small from afar, which probably meant that it was bigger close up, but she wasn't sure what it was yet until Karasu picked her up and ran really fast towards the thing. Up close Alyss noticed it was a submarine, and Karasu left her on top of it and climbed down himself. She smiled slightly to herself and followed him into the submarine.

Karasu landed on his feet and looked at the long black hall with metal on the ground, walls, and ceiling. Karasu waited for Alyss to touch the ground, when he heard the clank of her feet touching the metallic floor then Karasu would start walking towards his own room located on the other side of the 50m long ship. Behind them, when they arrived in the ship, was the kitchen complete with sharp chef knives and many other types of cooking tools. On his way to his room Karasu took off his coat and folded it in his arms. When Karasu stopped it was near a room in the front of the submarine with a lot of buttons and levers. It even had a radar-like thing in the front. Karasu pointed to a door close to the button room in front of the submarine, it was right next to a fancy door with Karasu's initials in it. . The fancy room was Karasu's room, obviously. Karasu opened the door for Alyss and showed her room, 4m long and wide with a bathroom that was 2.5 meters wide. Her bed was set, and she had a shelf with books inside of it.

Karasu smiled, "You have your room set for you. Is there anything you need?"

Alyss followed Karasu around the ship, she didn't really have anything to say about it besides it being amazing. She had never expected such technology outside of her island. But it didn't mean something bad, nope, it meant that it was amazing!!! Alyss didn't want Karasu to think she was a cavewoman because of how she had been acting and her thoughts about his ship/submarine. When he showed her to her room she looked down for a second, embarrassed about what she was going to say next.

"Um, well, you see... I've been having nightmares lately, and I was wondering if.. if you could stay the night in my room? It's okay if you don't want to" Alyss hated showing such a vulnerable part of herself to Karasu but he was her captain and she had to learn to trust him, so what better way than showing him her fears? Her nightmares? Alyss didn't want him disappointing her though, she wasn't sure what she would do if he said no, and by that, hurt her in the process.

Karasu showed her the room, and when he asked if she needed anything else she told him about her nightmares. Karasu remembered when Ericka had nightmares he would help her by giving her teddy bears, among other things. Alyss just needed someone to stay the night in her room. Karasu nodded, and put his coat on the door handle of his room. It worked like a hanger.. kinda. Karasu walked in her room and looked around. It definitely looked different then his own room, it was much smaller.. about half the size. He didn't realize how big his room was until he walked into one of his crew member's rooms. Alyss had a closet the same size as his own. Karasu looked back at Alyss, turning around after looking at the room.

"I'll stay here for the night. I don't mind. If it helps you feel better, I'll keep my pistols around my waist." Karasu grabbed one of the pistols by the holster, maybe her nightmares were about men trying to grab her.. if that was true then Karasu will have to make her feel safe. Of course, he had no idea what the nightmare was actually about, he just thought she felt afraid of something.

Alice shook her head, tears threatening to spill from her eyes. "I'd prefer it if you left your pistols somewhere else... If you can't, it'd be okay though" She didn't want him to be armed because of what had happened in the hot spring, how he had threatened to kill her basically, even if he said it was a trial. It had put up walls in between them and Alyss no longer trusted him completely with his guns nearby. But she also understood that he was an important man and that if he was defenseless he could be murdered. She didn't want that to happen either so she found herself with contradicting emotions.

Her arms were around herself and her face was looking down, so even if Karasu was looking at her, he wouldn't be able to see the tears in her eyes. She was guarded, and so was her stance. She was afraid, and having such a small room reminded her of her cell. It was terrible for Alyss, and she didn't know what to do. When she had spoken her voice quivered a bit, but she hoped Karasu hadn't taken notice of it, or would ignore it. She waited for his reply.

Karasu heard her speak and immediately recognized the break in her voice. Karasu didn't panic, but he didn't know what to do. She asked him to leave the guns outside, but told him that it was fine with her if he had too have it with him. But, there isn't that many moments when Karasu isn't prepared for an attack. Did he trust her enough to leave his weapons behind? She agreed to join his crew, and she seemed like she needed help.. she folded her arms against herself, and Karasu thought he saw a sad expression on her face before she looked down. He had to help Alyss. Karasu took off his gloves, and the four pistols around his body, then placed them on a chair outside his door. Karasu's vulture remained on his shoulders. Karasu looked at his vulture, "I need you to protect my things. Take these to my room and lock the door. If you hear anyone entering this ship, you have my permission to kill them."

The vulture nodded and flew to grab Karasu's things, then flew inside Karasu's room after unlocking the door and moving inside. Karasu could still semi fight even without his weapons; he didn't feel threatened enough to worry about being attacked at the moment. Alyss was a crew member, which meant he had to trust her. Tomorrow would begin the training.

Alyss looked up, her lips slightly parted in a 'o' shape. She didn't think someone as important as Karasu would do that, for her.. She smiled slightly, tears long gone from her eyes, and looked up to Karasu. "Your vulture seems really smart for an animal" she commented while turning to her closet. She then realized that she had nothing to wear to sleep, in fact, she had no clothes whatsoever, besides, of course, the ones that she was wearing at that moment. Alyss face-palmed and turned to Karasu. "It appears to be that I have in fact nothing to wear to sleep. Would you mind me sleeping in underwear?" she had her cheeks flushed a deep tomato red and her mouth was slightly parted, waiting for Karasu's response. She didn't know what to do. She could always sleep in her clothes but then they would be even dirtier for tomorrow. Alyss also had to find some way to get clothes, because she couldn't wear the same clothes everyday, that wasn't good at all.

Karasu nodded at her first statement, "He was trained for a long time. " Karasu then heard her next statement. She didn't have clothes with her? Right, she didn't have a bag with her that had clothing in it. So she didn't have pajamas. She asked if she could sleep with her underwear. Karasu nodded, almost unfazed at the fact that she was going to sleep on the bed with underwear instead of normal clothing. Just a moment ago Karasu was within inches of her face, naked, with her wearing nothing but a towel. Karasu didn't think too much of it, or so he thought. His heart seemed to increase its pumping for a second, then it went away. Karasu didn't know why, so he ignored it.

"Alright. I'll keep an eye on you while you sleep. I don't mind if you wear underwear." Karasu looked for a chair, but didn't find one. He might have to sit on the ground while watching her this night.

Alyss shook her head repeatedly. "No no, I need someone to be laying down on the bed with me so the nightmares don't begin... But" she looked away for a fraction of a second. "But if you don't want to do it... Which is understandable since I'm asking for too much" she looked down. "Actually, nevermind... Forget I even asked you to do this" she wrapped her arms around herself again and looked down, her lowerlip quivering as she was about to start crying.

Karasu walked around the room and listened to her speak. She didn't want him to stay on the ground, apparently. When he turned back to look at her she was shaking her head repeatedly. She told him that she needed someone to lay on the bed with him so the nightmares wouldn't begin, she even told him to forget it if it was too much trouble. In the end she excused what she said, expecting Karasu to ignore it.. her lip started to quiver. A small part of Karasu's chest tingled for some reason, and he sighed sitting next to Alyss in the bed. Karasu put his forehead on her forehead to see if she'd stop feeling sad.

"It's not a problem, I'll sleep with you tonight." If they slept in an open enough position Karasu could probably sneak out of bed to do a few businesses while she was sleeping. All he had to do was make sure he was around her when she was sleeping, and wait until she showed signs of being unconscious. Karasu felt his heart beat faster again, for a second. He ignored it. Sleeping with her didn't seem like a bad idea, but maybe she'll stop having nightmares if someone stayed next to her until she fell asleep. It made sense.

Alyss blushed and look into his eyes, his forehead was pressed gently against her. A smile appeared in her lips and she closed her eyes, nodding softly. "Thank you, you don't know how much this truly means to me Karasu..." Alyss loved the way his name rolled off her tongue, she was really happy that he had agreed to sleep with her. She stood up and walked towards the closet. She took her crop tshirt off and hung it in the closet, then proceeded to take off her black tank top, and then finally her shorts. She turned towards Karasu now that she was in her underwear and sat beside her. "Are you going to your room to change clothes or are you going to sleep in those clothes?" she asked, her head tilting to the left slightly. She blushed again when memories of the hot spring creeped their way back to her mind. She waited for his reply once again.

Karasu smiled when she told him this meant a lot to her, and his heart pounded for several seconds. She seemed to be happy that he decided to help her with her nightmares. He was glad to help. When the heart stopped beating harshly he heard her ask him if he was going to sleep in his current clothes. Karasu looked at his pants and boots, he probably wasn't going to sleep in these.. it wouldn't be very comfortable, even if he was going to get up in a few hours anyways while Alyss was sleeping. Karasu unbuckled his belt and let it fall to the floor along with his pants. Karasu took off his boots, then his socks, and finally his pants which stopped in ankle length when his shoes were still on his feet.

Karasu dropped the clothes on the edge of the room and walked up to her bed, laying down on the right edge of the bed, it didn't have a wall next to it so Karasu could jump off when she looked asleep. He just needed to make sure she fell asleep with enough room between him and her for him to slither out and do some Dark Isle business. "I'm ready to sleep when you are, Alyss."

Alyss smiled and went over Karasu to lay on the side that was facing the wall. She moved around for a second and ended up facing Karasu's back. She stared at his muscles, his spine... She blushed at the dirty thoughts that started to appear in her mind. "It's cold in here..." she mentioned while moving closer to Karasu. "Sleeping in my underwear was a bad idea..." inside she was hoping that Karasu would offer another way of warming themselves up, not a naughty way of course. Alyss turned again to the wall and unclasped her bra, leaving it by the wall. Then she took of her panties, smiling and hoping that Karasu would not notice that she was now naked... It would be really embarrassing.. and she just did this so that she would warm up faster.

Karasu felt Alyss lay on the other side of the bed. She felt so light.. then he heard her talk about the coldness in the room. Karasu was used to certain weather conditions, but this wasn't very cold to him, in fact it was a little warm for some reason.. which it rarely is. She mentioned that wearing her underwear was a horrible idea. Karasu didn't turn around for a few seconds thinking about the possible ways to help her sleep. Karasu turned around and put his arms around her, he remembered that this was the perfect way to warm up another person. Karasu felt warm anyways, so staying close to Alyss will help her sleep. Later on he'd have to remove his hand. He placed his chest so it was touching her back. He tried to share his body warmth as much as possible.

He suddenly realized that she didn't feel like the way he remembered her. He didn't know where his hand was, but he didn't feel a bra-like feeling. What he felt was skin. And his lower half, which was close to her, didn't feel skin either. Karasu's heart beat faster, was there something his body knew that Karasu hasn't figured out yet?