Mission #12: Piscine Camaraderie [Farris]

[White Mimic]

Sun shined down into the depths of the ocean, a clear day like this one gave a good illumination in the murky brine of the West Blue, especially at this particular area of the sea. Underwater volcanic activity created the small plateau many years ago, though it had since went dormant and became the elevated nest for sea kings. On a day like today, it was said one could see straight down to the top of the plateau from the surface and see what kind of sea king was using it as a nest for the season, not that many people would risk getting this close to the Calm Belt in the first place. Supposedly, however, marine reports had confirmed the kind of sea king using the plateau this season, a rather rare Crustacean Serpent that had the misfortune of being one of the most decadent forms of marine life around the four Blues. Not that they were easy to catch or fight of course, for anything worth anything had a toll to pay in toil.

Sliding through the water like a torpedo some distance off was a younger fishman, simply trying to find the location of this plateau, but with no avail as of yet. The map he possessed was not particularly water safe and had to be kept in an air tight plastic satchel he had been given for the job, making it difficult fo him to navigate through the waters without making return trips to the surface to look at his own location every few minutes. It also didn't help that his sense of direction was not as acute as an actual navigators, but so far he had gotten by.

Pierce, as was the fishman's name, had recently been hired to acquire one of the younger serpents for preparation and consumption at the 'Raultenfaim', an upper crust five star resturant of the West Blue, serving everyone who could pay for it. When Pierce had visited, inquiring about the work, he would've been amazed at the decor and ambience of the resturant (most would be) if he hadn't already been exposed to the sort of style that came with fine cuisine during his childhood. He hadn't made it too far into the resturant himself, with the appearance of a commoner and the usual reaction he recieved from people in the Blues who hadn't seen a fishman before. He had to discuss the work in the lobby so as not to disturb the 'distinguished clientele', but that didn't really matter to him, as long as he got the money to support the crew.

After a few moments of swimming around and looking for more underwater landmarks, he had to resurface once more, looking at the map once more. "Really should have lamenated this for me..." He double checked the map a few times before putting it away and diving down to the bottom of the ocean. The bottom wasn't as far down as it usually was this far out in the sea, so he knew he was at least getting close. The floor he was on was like the top of a sharp hill which dropped off a bit before rising into a few more ridges and hills. But after taking a good look at the area and comparing it to his mental image of the sea map he had been given, he suddenly saw a tiny spike in the distance through the murky waters, light beams shining through the waves above him to for a sort of halo around the distant mountains pinnacle.

"That must be it." A sharp toothed grin spread across Pierce's face as he kicked off from the sea floor and swam for the mountain in the distance, rising to the top's elevation before leveling out and continuing on his path to the plateau.

[Farris (Kuro)]

As the Lionfish closed in on the mountainous structure, so too was another figure in the waters. The light blue colored saw shark speed through the waters with ease. He heard rumors that sea kings were being rated highly as a good meal. A large one would make for a good feast for his crew for at least a week, but a small one would do just as well. He had thought about bringing his Quartermaster along but reasoned that if he did the piranha would leave nothing to bring back. Merry was a very violent Fishman, and loved tearing things apart, a true brother of the Fishman district, but if he wanted to have the Sea king in one piece than he needed to to hold back, something he wasn't sure Merry would be so good at and it wasn't as if he could handle this himself.

Arlong didn't notice the other Fishman as he approached the Mountain of rock from a different direction. So when he reached the structure he expected that he would be the only one to fight the massive sea king that lepta from the sea to protect it's young. "The Saw" Showed no fear, but instead excitement as a broad toothy grin spread across his face. Grabbing Kiribachi which had been strapped to his back and leaping from the water to clash in the air with the mighty serpent. It's deadly jaws clashing with Kiribachi's teeth-like blades before both fell back into the water to strike at one another again...

[White Mimic]

As he approached the nest, the parent Serpent began to thrash about in the distance, it's roar echoing through the water. The sudden activity was enough to stop Pierce dead in the water, though he recovered quickly when he figured it was being distracted by something else, probably another sea king. If it was another sea king, then he'd have to be extra careful, but the opportunity he had been given was too perfect to pass up. He saw the creature rise through to the surface as he slid into the nest to gather one of the young serpents.

They sort of looked like their mother, dark carapace on their backs with a light ribbed underbelly, decorated with what appeared to be tendrils giving them the appearance of large aquatic centipedes, though they were still clearly snake like in their body shapes and heads. Compared to their mother they were lighter in color and most of them were coiled around themselves, resting. Only a few seemed to have been woken from the mother's actions, and Pierce could tell from the film over their eyes that they hadn't developed their sight yet. He had heard of sea kings that exhibited this manner of familiar system and even had a mammalian system of development, though he hadn't seen it for himself.

When the sea king came back down into the water, she was accompanied by another fishman that he hadn't noticed there before. He wasn't sure of what to do next in light of this detail. A young serpent could easily be procured in the mother's distraction, but up to this point, Pierce's experience with other fishmen had been lacking. He looked at the young serpents for a bit, they seemed to be slowly waking without their mother's presence, and then back up at the other fishman. He let out a little frustrated sigh and kicked up towards the Sea King, spinning around like a drill with his fins frilling around him like a sharp tornado as he torpedoed up to it's side.

((You want I should play the Serpent too, or do you want to do it, or do you want to share it?))

[Farris (Kuro)]

The underwater battle with the sea king mother continued to rage making the waves above the area turbulent and dangerous. If any fisherman or sailor was foolish enough to come to this place then they would find the dangerous currents Arlong and the beastly mother were creating to be both hazardous and frightening. Arlong didn't expect anyone else to be here, so help was the last thing on his mind. The small noises that the young made did seem to interrupt the mother thus far so when the form of a Lionfish Fishman spun like a torpedo into the creature without warning, Arlong looked surprised for a moment. This was nothing compared to the shock the mother got from being hit out of no where. The monster let out a loud scream and slowly regained it's barings, shaking it's head before redirecting itself at it's new attacker. Arlong then used this chance to prepare his own attack.

There was no way "The Saw" was going to let one of his people get attacked by such a lowly beast. Especially after he had helped him, even if he hadn't needed it, the gesture was not lost on the Saw Shark. "Shark on Darts!" He called out, firing himself at the serpent like a dart at high speed. His unbreakable nose (that had once been broken but he refused to concede to this) striking the side of the Sea king before Arlong twisted around with Kiribashi and slashed a larger wound in it's side, just as the young began to cry out for their mother, almost as if they could sense her impending demise.

(OOC: Both works. ^^)

[White Mimic]

Pierce had ledged himself well against the serpent's side, stuck mostly in her carapace, though some of the quills on his legs were lucky enough to strike her underbelly, pinning Pierce to a dangerous, thrashing monster. As best he could he pulled his dorsal and arm quills from the monster, bending foreward to his legs as best as he could. Doing his best to keep his balance and hold in the beast, he frantically tried to take off the sharp metal caps on his fins without losing them. It was difficult enough getting a good grab at his own limbs without stabbing himself, keeping a hold of whatever caps he had been able to wrench off quickly was a different matter. Pierce only carried so many extras with him at a given time and he was nowhere near his own ship where he had a small box filled with them. If he lost too many, his quills would have to remain exposed, leaving those around him in danger of contracting his venom should anyone accidentally wound themselves on an uncovered quill.

Several in his hands dropped from his hands and were flung into the darkness of the waters and ridges below. No matter, he struggled to stay in a good position long enough to bring his arms to her underbelly and inject the serpent with the poison directly. In his attempts, he almost came close, but grew distracted when he was able to make out the details of the other fishman.

Sawshark, armed with a wierd looking sword and of a bluer looking color. Pierce had more of an orange tint himself so he had gotten used to the color of his own reflection and hadn't exactly expected to see another fishman for quite some time. It was a nice color, the other fishman's skin. He looked a little familiar, but no name came to mind, and he didn't think he had known the other fishman when he was younger. No, it was more recent than that, when he was with humans but he simply couldn't recognize the other.

In watching the other fishman do battle with the serpent as well, Pierce hadn't been paying attention and didn't inject the mother as he had planned to. When the sawshark fishman plunged his nose into her, she shook violently, like a snake in a death row. The force of her movements dislodged Pierce and soon after sent him down to the rocks below, slamming him with her mighty tail. Pierce cratered into one of the ridges at the base of the plateau, losing all of his removed caps in the attack, as well as a few which slipped off his dorsal fin. The impact made him dizzy for a little bit, all he could really make out sound wise was the very loudest of the roars from the mother as he tried to regain his bearings, imbedded slightly in the side of the stone ridge.