Setting
He stood silent like the rest at the side, observant for any coastal guards or naval boats. Of which their were many about, however their small craft painted black and the dozen or so others that encircled and rode the waves so expertly went unnoticed, as too did the groups of fishmen swimming to their destination from drop off points. It was to be a night assault, a massacre, a mindless thing designed to release tension and increase suffering, the previous captain had wanted the Sun Pirates to co-exist with humans, preached human and fishman relations and diplomacy. It seemed with his death however, despite his dying message, his last act, that those few who remained as part of the original crew were easily deterred to senseless racist violence under new rule.
He joined the assault out of necessity, loyalty, on the field of slaughter and battle he would fight the marines and the world government. He would save all he could and keep his reputation in tact until the time was right, until it was time for him to leave the Sun Pirates and continue his old captains work, the work the marines thought they had began and continued. The boat arrived at the dock low and quiet and he clambered out, the merciless boat of fishmen behind him unloading and handing out weapons, gear and setting up their groups. Instead of joining them he walked away with swift and heavy steps, his basic use of Geppo keeping him just high enough off the ground to conceal his heavy gait and thumping size, atleast through sound. With the sound of a shattering window and the light of the first burning bottle of drink the assault began.
He unlike the others did not head straight into town to draw the marines, or cause destruction, instead he made a direct line to the navies ships and the docks themselves that contained them. The great beams and well-made port shining even under the faint moonlight as he made his way towards them, if anyone wished to evacuate or find safety the evacuation plans of such a place would bring them squarely to the navies door-step. Conversely here he would find those who wished to defend others, here he would find the stronger fighters, those whom could help him with his goals both good and bad.
And so, with great regret he reached a hand into his pocket and allowed his fruits powers to take hold. Like a corrupting tendril the swarm of human skin began to crawl from his arm until it spread across his body and left him standing there with lightly tanned skin and human-like texture. His Hawaiian shirt hung loosely about his shoulders below his Marine Cape, the kanji for justice still sketched underneath his long black dread-locks, the rings embedded and surrounding parts of them jangling in the breeze. His large gait blocked a good portion of the port, if you were a pirate not of the Sun, his presence would be terrifying.The citizens had indeed begun to head towards him, and the stationed marines were coming behind him to back up the captain, had he a bounty such a ruse would be impossible. A mere captain would not be too suspicious of an arrival, and with his transformation complete his fishman features were entirely covered, it was now that he would begin what little strategy the assault had involved besides the entry.
He would turn the marines against themselves and bring forth those who truly possessed the will to protect.
Hangyaku wiped the steam from her forehead and started untying the strings on her apron. Her shift was finally over at the pub, and she could go home. She handed the apron to the new worker and plucked the white coat from the wall, to throw hastily around her shoulders.
"Shift's over." Yaku called into a half-open door to an office, and an old lady hobbled out and dropped a small pouch of coins into her hand.
"Here you go dearie, I hope to see you tomorrow," She creaked, giving a toothy smile alongside.
"Thank you ma'am," Yaku nodded and ducked out the back door of the pub into an alley, and turned left onto a pier overlooking the water.
She stuffed the pouch into her pocket and turned her head out to the sea, seeing... a ship? What was a ship doing here this late at night?
Seems suspicious, but couldn't be anything big, Yaku mulled over the thought in her head. After a few moments of thought, she shrugged and continued down the pier, eventually turning a corner and-
THUD! She walked directly into someone.
Yaku yelped and stumbled backward onto the ground, the large figure she ran into didn't seem to budge.
She eyed the figure's cape, noticing something about the emblem on the back.
Oh shit, he's a marine. Her mouth opened slightly, her eyes wide and her skin totally pale.
"O-o-o-oh I-i-i-i didn't see you there" she started stammering, barely able to even speak straight.
Marv had grown up in Loguetown, had been taught and had worked here, so it was not rare to be recognized. The boy's mother had been a patient of him once many moons ago, and rushed to him as he passed in a tizzy. She had told him what happened in rushed histarics as they made their way back to her home, placing the boy on his bed so that the doctor could pull up a chair and get to work. It was now up to the quiet doctor to patch the small boy up, and tell his mother that her son will be alright.
That was the idea, anyway. Marv was having quiet a lot of trouble holding the small boy down, not wanting to hurt him with excessive force but also not wanting him to thrash like a madman as the doctor tried to sew him up. Finally, giving in, Marv pulled a vile from his coat and rubbed the contents on a rag, holding it to the boy's face. It was harmless, of course, and the boy slowly started to drift off to sleep.
With thrashing no longer a problem, Marv set to work stitching the wound as quickly as he could. The fuss had eaten away a lot of their time, and the boy was losing blood, so urgency should be taken into account. It didn't take Marv long to finish the stitches, apply a numbing cream to help with pain, and wrap up the stump. He soon stood in the entryway of the household, giving a very relived mother some medicine to give to her child and accepting little coin for his work, before he was back out into the night.
It was a warm night, quite pleasant for the island native as he walked down the quiet night streets. That is, it should've been quiet, had there not been a loud yelp from around the corner. A tad worried, a habit that Marv really did mean to dismiss, he picked up his pace and rounded the corner in a hurry, hoping to not see yet another injury for the night. One was enough for such a late hour. But, no, not a brawl was awaiting around the corner, for the people seemed civil, at least for the moment.
A woman and a man stood before him, though the former looked quite pale to the point were Marv's doctor instincts kicked in and he just couldn't help himself. He cleared his throat, trying to catch attention before saying, "You alright, Miss?"
It was so quiet and deep, it came out as more of a rumbled whisper than anything else and he feared he hadn't been heard.
"Turning in for the night than? He asked as she made her way towards the stairs that lead to her apartment, nodding her head at him, she paused half way up the stairs as he continued to talk. "Okay love, I will be heading home than. See you at 9 tomorrow." He said as he got up and grabbed his stuff, making his way towards the door. Sending her one last wave and smile over his shoulder, he was gone.
It was always a mystery why Raoul had never lived above his own bar, but when ever she tried to ask he would always avoid the subject, so she just didn't ask anymore. Entering her room, she quickly changed into her PJs and jumped into bed in hopes of a long, good night sleep before work the next morning.
Screaming... Why was there screaming...?
Anna jumped awake as she heard glass crashing down stairs. Grabbing up her leather gloves, she ran downstairs only to come face to face with five fishmen pirates. "What the fuck do you think you doing!" She yelled as she ran down into the room and took a fighting stance, drawing the pirates attention. "You have 5 seconds to get the fuck out or there will be hell to pay!" She growled out, her sleep clouded mind not really taking in her odds but spitting out threats anyway.
"Oh ya, and who's gonna make us girly? You?" One of the fishmen said, laughing as the rest joined in his taunts. They were beginning to piss her off, there was a reason pirates never attacked the Gold Roger, and that was because of her. She might not kill anyone but more than enough men could testify to the power of her punches and kicks.
"Ya, me." She growled out, moving forward swiftly and delivering a swift upper cut to the fishmans jaw, sending him flying back into the wall and collapsing unconscious. It was one of her swift knock out moves, and she was kind of hoping it would scare away the other guys... But than again these were pirates and they were two things, stupid and defiantly not intimated... Though maybe just a little bit enraged...
The men drew swords than, and Anna realised her chances had just hit rock bottom. She was currently dressed in a set of very flimsy PJs and didn't even have any weapons on her, seeing as she never remembered them... Or even had them anywhere in reach for when she woke up...
There was only one thing to do in this situation... Run! And that's exactly what she did. As the men began descend upon her, she ducked down beneath the legs and shot herself through the open legs, managing to reach the door and pull herself up in time to get a head start before the remaining 4 men noticed her immediate departure.
All around her there was the noise of screaming and fighting as the fishmen attacked the town. Hearing a shout behind her that signalled the men had noticed she had gotten past them, she quickly took off in the direction that sounded the quietest... Or at least had no sound of fighting.
Dodging and weaving through the back alleys of Loguetown, Anna had no doubt she could lose them but she didn't want to run into anyone else looking for a fight while she was completely defenceless. Hearing another shout, she glanced back and noticed she hadn't been able to lose the men, swearing under her breath she picked up speed while still looking over her shoulder... And ran straight into a body.
Two rather silent bottles of beer later the bar doors swung open again and a group of 7 people walked into the bar, a short man in formal clothing and holding a briefcase was at the front and obviously he was their leader.
"Who do I talk to about buying this bar?", the short man questioned with a loud commanding voice "The Money Bag pirates need a new private watering hole". Diego didn't like the sound of that, this was definitely his favourite bar in Mock town and he didn't want it to go to wast on some pirates "We cant have that happening", he decided to respond "This is the best bar in Mock town, I would rather it didn't go to waste on some pirates". Diego was quite happy with that, it seemed to sound good in his head, but all it seemed to do is aggravate the short captain.
"A drunk like you cant do shit to stop us!' shouted the short man, putting one hand onto a sheathed cutlass, the other one gripping his briefcase tightly, Diego could tell that he was prepared for a fight. "I'm going to make you pay for talking back to Stu Rich, captain of the Money Bag Pirates" claimed the captain, now walking towards Diego with an unsheathed cutlass. This was bad, Now not only did he have to keep the bar from being purchased, but he had also started a fight with a bunch of pirates. This situation certainly required him to finish his fourth bottle of beer and so he gulped down the rest of his drink and turned to the short pirate, trying to think of a way out of this situation.
The Fishman was glad that the pier had such a vantage point, although it only showed clippings of the large town it's position jutting outwards from him at the edge at least gave him the advantage of being able to see down various streets, especially ones that had recently been made clearer by cannonball holes and flames. He continued to stroll with purpose towards the marines and their Captain until suddenly halting and raising an accusatory finger "You!, I have tracked you a long time 'Captain'. You are under arrest and to be judged by the Marine Headquarters for your crimes against Logue Town and the Navy. I have posted marines through out your crew and various others and tracked the Sun Pirates dealings and operations for quite some time, and every bit of information and informant has lead to my purpose here. You are a traitor and have allowed the fishmen to assault this town, had I known sooner they were to attack this port I would have stopped it." He said with an accusatory growl, accompanied by his booming and commanding voice. "But you....you knew full well what would happen here, Marines! My Crew! Arrest this man and bring him before the Marine Headquarters!" He roared, pausing to reach into his pockets before throwing a variety of items, papers and photographs, all faked and forged of course, onto the pier in front of the large group of marines "In the name of Justice and under this evidence, bring him to account for his actions!"
The fishmans turned to look at the girl whom had bumped into him earlier and sent her a gesture that told her to follow his orders, to bring others who could fight to protect. He then turned and rushed forward, he knew he stood no chance against a real Captain of the Navy, but he hoped this one had no devil fruit and that the Marines who now turned their guns confusedly to one another and between the two captains would either side with him or fight it out. As his fist clashed against the metal of the other captains blade he breathed an inward sigh of relief with the sound of gunfire, the marines had bought it so far and all he had to do was hold the fruitless captain here until the other navy leaders arrived.
He hated the slaughter of invasions, but an opportunity to exercise his plan and bring forth strong and dependent humes, that was why he had joined the Sun Pirates. Even as the metal bit into his flesh and tore further into his hand, he was sustained by the fact that it was only a matter of time before worthy and intelligent citizens were drawn towards the navy ships. Even if he lost his hand this day it would be worth the sacrifice.
The fishman hordes continued to tear through the city, burning and attacking all they could as the marines and navy officers further into the town fought back hard. It was with both misfortune and fortunate circumstances that the good doctor was in an alleyway that had been abandoned without response by his fellow citizens, one that was now more privy to a similar number of fishman denizens. It was similar luck that the pub worker had bumped into him at such an opportune moment in defending the town, and the barmaid found herself stumbling towards the main street that contained the 'marine battle'.
However lucky or unlucky they were, they had been blessed by the fact that Markov did indeed have allies, allies that similarly had remained in the Sun Pirates due to their heritage and worth. Allies that had been given orders to defend the more innocent and worthy citizens, these were the Allies that cut and smashed through the groups that pursued both the good doctor and the barmaid before disappearing without a trace or evidence. This favour, this hidden betrayal of their crewmates was a one time act, something they had committed in the name of Markov and their own goal, a goal they would continue to secretly cheer for from the sidelines. It would be the last favour they would ever enact for him.
Once she was within striking range, she hooked both of her weapons onto the blade of his cutlass, and pivoted on one foot to yank the weapon from his hand, likely breaking it if he didn't let go. The cutlass then wrenched from its owner's hand, clattering down the pier uselessly. Yaku still had momentum in her spin, so she kicked her foot out, landing the heel of her boot more or less squarely into the captain's solar plexus.
After the kick, she was posed in such a way that she noticed something about the man that asked for her help, and her kitchen experience helped her validate this: He smells very strongly -almost reeking- of fish.
Jack kissed his daughter on the forehead as the final goodbyes were said. He stood up and turned to his sister, Aria, "You'll be gone for awhile won't you Jack?" she said with a hint of sadness. Jack smiled, "I'll be back though. I promise." Aria's expression turned annoyed, "I wish you'd stop promising that! Promise me you'll leave the life instead!" Jack sighed, he knew she was partially right, but piracy is all he knew how to do. He looked away, " I can't do that Aria, you know that." He heard her sob, "I bet you're going to join a raid right now right?! what If you die, what will your daughter do? what will I do?" The words hit him like a cutlass to the neck. He couldn't take anymore discussion, he walked down the path before she could protest. After a short quiet walk he'd reached his boat, he'd be able to slip into the docks and reach the bars at least.
Jack had heard about the Fishmen raids. He didn't know the details but he knew there would be plenty of captains needing an experienced first mate. Jack didn't like anything having to do with fishmen, but it was gonna take care of his family. As he stepped into the boat Aria's words rang in his head. He could die in the raids, he could be shot and cast aside as easy as he does it to others. But who knows? The raiding could be finished by the Time he reaches the ship. Jack rationalized this as he shoved off.
He spied over his shoulder confusedly, having to look down to see the blonde barmaid whom had run into him. After a moment's inspection, seeing her in her nightwear catching him a tad off guard, he asked in the same quiet, measured tone he used before, the doctor's worry forever unyielding, "You alright?" Though did not venture any further than that, looking up abruptly to peer into the darkness of the alley behind her, voices from further off coming to his ears. Marv saw the men in pursuit of the young woman blundering their way down the narrow alleyway in their direction, swords draw at the ready. Cocking his head to the side in a very bird-like manner, Marv's hand slowly drifted to his belt were a delicately etched cutlass hung lazily, his hand resting lightly on the hilt, but did not move to grip it just yet.
Standing as still as a statue, it was clear that the large man was in waiting, but for what, it was unknown. From the sounds drifting from behind them, the town (At least in that part) sounded like it was being thrown into complete chaos, though Marv didn't have the slightest idea what was happening exactly, the alleyway where they stood seemed to go on unnoticed. A favorable position, Marv mused to himself, but it wouldn't last long, more men pouring into the narrow space at the other end.
"Come." Without waiting for approval, Marv grabbed the barmaid's arm with what he thought as a gentle force, freeing his cutlass with his unused hand and backing into the fray of the open square. Fighting in an alley would only lead to their own downfall, the small space to tight for the large Marvorok, so there seemed like no other choice. Though, from there, he was at a lose, not sure who was the enemy in the crowd of fighting individuals.
"Tekkai Shigan, Blood Baron....die and your treachery with you." He growled, his voice hollow and gasping as he twisted his fingers until a full circle was present around a palm shaped imprint, a dozen smaller holes and two larger ones present as he removed his hand and retreated backwards. Breathing heavily and clutching at his ripped fore-arm, he seemed to look to the girl beside him as the battlefield quietened down, the marines staring between the two captains and their fellow dead navy men. His breathing shallowed and his vision began to dance across the pier, he hadn't expected to kill the captain, or even wound him greatly...but they'd had the element of surprise, and the girl had removed his weapon. A smile began to creep up beneath his mask as he overlooked the rest of the marines.
"Point your weapons to the raiders and defend the town. Go!" He commanded, the marines stood for a moment, stunned, before rushing into town behind him and fading into the distance of the raid. He turned to look at the girl whom had potentially saved his life and knelt down to her level."I'm creating a crew, but I am not as I seem...I am here to create peace, but not just in Logue town. In the world, all shall have freedom. Pirates, the navy, fishmen and humans, all will be free...and there'll be plenty of adventure and spoils along the way. You'll just have to be willing to make an enemy of the supposed World Government and a crew called the Sun Pirates to do it...what do you say? Want to help me change the world?" He offered, his skin slowly fading back to its original colour and his gills becoming more prominent.
"I'm here to collect the best I can from Loguetown and then I'll be moving on. You'd end up posing as a slave of mine for awhile but...as soon as we have a crew everything begins. Care for adventure girl?" He offered again, standing up and slowly walking away, tearing off a piece of the other captains cloak and using it to bind his torn arm, grabbing a marine cap laying nearby and putting it on top of his head.
"Don't worry about that Captain, he really was corrupt, he was selling out navy supplies to pirates and allowed the Sun Pirates to get in close enough for this raid...I'm going to go lessen the damage, even if you have no interest in my offer, that at least you can agree to do."
The man -who revealed himself to be a fishman as she suspected- had given her an offer she couldn't refuse. A life of adventure AS WELL AS making a difference in the world? It was like a dream to her.
"Sounds exactly like something I'm interested in. When I was a little girl, my father and I ran in really badly with one of the big pirate clans, so being able to move around like this would be a great addition too." Yaku beamed, visibly excited.Afterwards, she added almost under her breath and looking down,
"I might even get to meet her after all this time."
"It's a deal!"Her head quickly snapped back up and she shook his non-injured hand, giving an earnest smile.
"If I'm to be posing as a slave, you might want to have a place to store my coat and weapons. The Sun Pirates wouldn't want some slave girl walking around with these." She sheathed her weapons back into the leather-bound hidden pockets inside her coat, and then quickly undressed from it, her heavy pants and the matching boots, into a more believable outfit: a loose-fitting T-shirt with her left shoulder showing and a pair of shorts that reach to her mid-thigh.
"This looks more like something that a captured slave girl would wear, right?" She winked and laughed, finally taking her straw-blonde hair down from a ponytail to fall naturally behind her shoulders and back, finally giving it a quick rustle to make it look a bit disheveled and 'roughhoused'.
"One last step," she reached down and dipped her hands in the seawater, wiping it onto her face to make dried fake tears, and then her expression and voice shifted to something more afraid and innocent.
"W-Where are you taking me, mister?" She gave him a sly wink.
Diego toppled off the stool and rolled past the short pirate as he started to bring the curved sword down, then moving into a handstand, and at the exact moment the cutlass bit the stool he grabbed onto the suitcase with his lower mustache and pushing himself off his hands and into the air, pulling the suitcase with him. As Diego landed back on his own two feet he nearly fell over but somehow managed to fix his balance and begin running towards the exit, dodging the various pirates. After making out of the bar He headed towards the eastern half of Jaya, to a jungle which he called home. After a decent run he had reached South Grave, and quickly made himself at home atop of a tree. Looking down at the suitcase he hoped that he had saved the place by taking it, which he had assumed was full of the money they were going to use to buy the bar, but upon inspection Diego had found nothing but a weird looking fruit.
As soon as his marines were out of sight he climbed up a nearby building. Upon reaching the roof Jonas removed his cape and loose fitting shirt and placed them carefully on the roof. After doing so his body got a bit larger, went dark gray and hardened, and wings grew out from his back, which whilst not being all too large compared to his body, are large enough to let him fly or glide for a short amount of time. He crouched on one of the corners of the building into a comfortable position, now watching and waiting for something interesting.
It didn't take long before something caught Jonas' attention. It was a large man who, judging by the outfit, was a fellow captain, and a woman following him. He prepared to make an entrance, waiting for the captain and his follower to get close enough. When the timing was right, he jumped off of the roof, falling fast before the two people.
"Mala Propulsare!" Shouted Jonas just as his heavy body hit the floor with a distinct THUD, landing with both hands touching the floor, crouched like a cat. At that moment a ring of black runes and symbols expanded along the floor from Jonas' hand, until it was large enough to contain him and his company safely. He stood up, brushing dust off of himself and speaking "Sorry about that, Just taking safety measures.", Jonas hoped that he didn't alert him too much, after all, it did look like an attack. "Now, I don't believe I know you. I'm Captain Jonas Blunt", He continued looking up and putting his hand out for a handshake. It was only then that he noticed the woman's slave-like appearance. something seemed rather fishy about this couple.
"Perfect, although I do worry for what kinda slave they think you'll be... Although I doubt these pirates'll care much what I do with you." He said with a small laugh, a strange noise that seemed like it was new even to the speaker, it was when they reached a little bit more into town, down the now empty main street. Seemingly avoided for now for fear of fishman that had themselves stayed away from the main area, that a man fell from a building near them and began yelling something in a strange language before hitting the ground. A large ring of runes began to expand from his point of impact and Markov immediately turned and extended his poisonous spines from his fore-arm before halting them as the man spoke, withdrawing them into his arm again and noticing with an inward curse his skin fully returning to it's original appearance.
The man offered a hand, Markov decidedly shook the mans hand briefly before tucking his arms behind his back in an uptight marine pose. A million thoughts per second running through his mind before immediately gesturing to his new 'slave' upon settling finally on one that had not been lost in the mess.
"No worries, almost sent a spine through your eye though....Captain Zendikar, this lovely woman here is my poor wife...I left her here in Loguetown for safety whilst I hunted these abominable fishman. Even disguised myself as one for the most part, I hunted them here and discovered that a corrupt captain allowed them to sneak in so close....he has been dealt with to the full extent of marine justice. However she was roughed up a bit by the time I found her in this mess amongst a group of Fishmen, I have come to lessen the damage to others families." He said swiftly, placing urgency and pouring emotions into the small speech and even allowing a convincing caress of his 'wife's' soft cheek before turning back to the Captain.
"I assume you are able to accompany us in hunting down the raiders and a small grocery list of corrupt officials here in Loguetown?" He asked as if an afterthought, eventually relaxing his hands back to his sides and nodding his head to the left, towards a group of shadows leading down an alleyway, each with a fin or other extra fish-like appendage to mark them.
"I-I'm so lucky that you came back in time, those fishmen were saying they were going to do all kinds of terrible things to me once I was on their ship.." She looked up at him, on the verge of bursting into 'tears'.
When the stranger wasn't paying attention, she quickly whispered to Zendikar,
"Clever idea with the wife thing. As long as I don't get too many hands laid on me on the fishman ship, I'll tag along with this disguise as long as I need to."
In Mock Town Diego approached his favorite pub, noticing the "Money Bag" pirates as he turned the corner, quickly hiding back behind it, not wanting to gt into unnecessary trouble. Hiding behind this corner Diego noticed that he was rather sweaty, It was a humid day after all. He wiped the sweat off his brow and noticed a weird smell (for his sweat at least). Looking down at his hand he noticed that there was a brown liquid on it, and without thinking he licked the brown 'sweat' from his hand, noticing it had the distinct taste of well mad ale. "This is a fucking miracle!" he shouted, cluelessly walking into the view of the very pirates he was hiding from, hands raised in the air, and a large grin planted on his face. A second later he noticed that he had grabbed the attention of the angry pirates and a large crowd of people. Well, shit. he thought to himself, preparing for the innevitable fight ahead of him.
asked the other captain, and whilst Jonas was glad that he would have something to do, or at the very least someone to talk to, He didn't want to deal with corrupt marine captains, and so he tried to think of a way to get out of it, turning to the Captain and his wife, examining the area around him.I assume you are able to accompany us in hunting down the raiders and a small grocery list of corrupt officials here in Loguetown?
"Of course it's my duty to protect the innocent and serve justice to those who need it" He started, coming up with an excuse, "but, If possible I would like to not have to deal with the corrupt captains, as it may look like I'm just attacking allies for no reason" There, he thought, sure that he wouldn't have to face any of the tougher captains in the area. "I'll still help with these fishmen however" He added, getting into a crouched a defensive position, one hand on a mace of his, after noticing a couple of shadows coming from a nearby alley.
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