Monkey Business: Bounty Hunters Guild

[Shinku]

Kyou recognized the silhouette before anything else. The afro was a very sticking out characteristic of his friend, one that could be spotted from a long way off, before the face became recognizable. A faint smile appeared on the pink-haired boy’s face. It looked a bit sour, but that was just because the smile was rather out of practice and the facial muscles were forced into unknown directions, not because the young man was really feeling morose or anything like that. In fact, Kyou hadn’t felt that glad about seeing someone for a very long time, maybe years. He had definitely not felt as happy when he had met Otto the last time, because last time they’d met they hadn’t been friends yet, nor would Kyou have expected them to end up as comrades. There was still a bit of nervousness however that would probably never completely leave the boy.

“ … !” Glad that he could end this pointless fight, Kyou gave the monkey-man a friendly greeting wave.

His friend however didn’t consider their match finished and neither did the gorilla it seemed. Obviously training held priority over talking with visiting friends. With his opponent continuing to attack, Kyou hadn’t any chance to see what Otto was doing but had to focus on the gorilla instead if he didn’t want to end with a flat nose, which would not help to improve his general looks. There was something different about the fighting blue brother however, as if the ape was more composed, now that Otto was watching their fight. The punches were thrown with more precision and less taunt. If anything that made the gorilla even better but for some reason Kyou found himself without trouble to dodge. With swirling and turning motions, he danced around his opponent, keeping close but avoiding every strike.

“Hey! I can win this!” he thought with rising confidence.

There really shouldn’t have been any reason to be surprised about that. Unlike Kyoukichi who had gotten strange bits of martial arts lessons quite earl and all through in his life, the ape had only recently started to train. But nevertheless it felt good to be able to fight on a par with an opponent who was stronger than him, even though less experienced. No divine revelation could have been as powerful as realizing that there were other options than just running or losing.
Retreating back a step Kyou forced the gorilla brother to stretch his punch a bit more in order to reach him and then carefully grabbed the thick hairy wrist, tugging just so lightly on it in order to unbalance the gorilla, before he spun around and used the remaining momentum of his foe to throw said ape. The young man wasn’t strong and the gorilla was heavy, but luckily this wasn’t an attack that relied on strength, or rather it relied on the strength of the opponent rather than one’s own. The gorilla sailed through the air and landed a few feet away on the ground, obviously stunned about the suddenly upside-down turning world.

The pink-haired man relaxed a bit. He had won! He actually won a fight, all by himself! Of course his opponent had only been an ape, and while the animal was big and strong, it was no real match against a really experienced fighter. Not yet anyway. With time Otto’s teachings might change that. Coming to think about it, Kyou now could put his finger on what he had missed in the empty gym.
“No scrolls with the dojo’s motto or philosophy on the wall. I wonder what Otto’s fighting is based on. Monkeys?” He muses as he walked over to the lying down gorilla, to offer him a hand. He would have to ask about that.
After some pondering look the gorilla grabbed Kyou’s hand and without standing up pulled the boy with a surprising speed and threw him over his head.

“Ugh.”

Again Kyou found himself lying on the ground.

“I’ll give up.” He said. “And next time,” he added in his head, “I’ll make sure that the opponent agrees it's his loss before I offer him a hand.”
The young man wasn’t really angry, he had gotten a good idea of his strength in this fight, but the boy was still a bit cross about having to admit defeat after actually being able to win for once. Both however agreed that it was worth losing if it stopped the fight. There was something more important than getting respected by a monkey after all.

“Hey Otto. It’s err… been a while. I came for a visit, if you don’t mind?” He finally greeted the monkey-man as he got up to his feet, brushing his clothes to get the dirt off, but only managing to smear it all over instead. His stomach chose just this time to make itself heard with a deep growl.
“What do you think about going to the town to eat something? I’ll invite you.” Kyou offered, for once he had some money left to spend. And on the way he might get the chance to admit to his friend, that he had found out nothing about the whereabouts of the two young gorilla brothers that had been kidnapped some time ago.
“Does your dojo have any kind of philosophy?” Maybe talking about other things first was better and this would work well as a conversation topic for the way to town, he would have to get to the sad topics soon enough.

[The Shimmering Banana]

*Clap clap clap*


His hairy hands slammed against each other the sound rumbling through the air. The bout was over "Good match guys... Elwood!" he yelled out in a harsh tone his teachers mentality taking hold. "You know better than to strikes when your sparring partner is helping you to you feet!" Otto dropping his head in disappointment. "You know the drill." says the young teacher as the large gorilla takes his mark and begins to take laps around the Dojo. The time that passed since he last saw his friend having matured Otto as a person and as a teacher. Soon the Dojo would be open to the public and he would need to present himself as a leader. The younger brother gorilla snickering at the sight of his brother in trouble, Otto angrily peering over at Jake, the adolescent taking his place by his brother.


“Hey Otto. It’s err… been a while. I came for a visit, if you don’t mind?”


His serious face returning to his normal cheery disposition as the pink hair boy uttered the words. Of course Otto did not mind, he told Kyou that he was always welcome in his home the last time they met. The young man rising to his feet slowly walking over to his old friend picking up the pace as he reaches a bit closer. His arms opening wide as he latched onto the pink haired boy squeezing in a playful manner. He could tell that the hug wasn't completely wanted but Otto didn't care, it had been a while since the boys had seen each other after all. Otto then slightly lifted Kyou off the ground his toes just inches from the cold ground.


"Heck yea it has been. And you're always welcome here my friend." says the monkey man placing his comrade back on the floor. The remaining dirt on his shirt smearing on Otto as well. The boys stomach growling as Otto released him from the hold "Haha yea that sounds like a great idea to me, I can tell you're starving haha." The two gorilla rushing over to the pair as they herd the mentioning of food, the both of them patting their stomachs "Haha seems like the boys are hungry too." the hunter adds. "Why don't you two take our guest inside to wash up I forgot something." The young beast grabbing Kyou, each holding one of his arms, dragging him inside.


With his brothers distracting Kyou, Otto felt like it was the perfect moment to rush back towards the ship and retrieve the boken. The saru boy returning moments later replacing the new sword with the old one sitting on the stump. A few moments after that the trio exiting the Dojo.


“Does your dojo have any kind of philosophy?”

The first Otto had thought of it since he returned to the Dojo... It was all master Hut used to say 'Discipline creates strength' a simple motto for an older generation. It was time to change that... With a new Dojo leader came new values. Otto didn't not answer his stomach growling allowing him to change the subject. *grrrr* "Seems like i was just as hungry as you guys were... How about we get going?" he says the trio walking towards him ready to head towards Piktopia. Otto casually mentioning "Oh don't forget your stuff."

[Surua]

Erwyn would have thought that getting away wouldn't have been this difficult, particularly because the Ensign chose not to utilize the gun in a manner it probably should have been. Maybe it really was too big for her, but since she seemed more intent on just clubbing him with it rather than shooting, as long as he could put some distance between them then he should have been fine. Another benefit that with his hands free he was more capable of maneuvering through the urban environment than she was. All that aside, she didn't seem to have any trouble tracking him down and no matter how he managed to get away from her each time, she still seemed to locate him again in time. Eventually he decided that he wasn't getting anywhere like this, and needed a change of plans.

If I keep moving and she can keep following, then maybe if I just hide in one place, she won't be able to find me. Yeah, that makes sense probably!

While it wasn't very dignified, he decided hiding was the way to go. Unfortunately he had this thought process while crossing some roofs, and missed a step causing him to fall down into an alleyway and crash through some crates below. Rubbing his head as he sat up, he saw what it was that he thought would solve all his problems; a collection of fairly large, lidded baskets. Surely, climbing inside one and closing the lid would render him practically invisible. Thus without much further ado, he did just that, and with time to spare it seemed since the Ensign was nowhere to be found.

Yes. I am the smartest person in the world right now.

---

It couldn't have been long but already Erwyn was starting to doze off, maybe to have a nice dream about going the great skies once more. Rudely he was jostled awake however, when the basket he was hiding in, was lifted up in its entirety. He did his best not to make any noise, but tried to peer through the wicker to see what was going on. As it seemed, two workers had hoisted the basket up and were carrying it somewhere, probably without knowing he was in there. As it were, this didn't seem strange to him, and it was only logical that if the baskets were organized as they had been then they were probably set to be taken somewhere. A simple matter then, for him to just wait till it was set down again wherever it was supposed to be going, and then he could just slink out unnoticed. Actually he'd probably just jump out and run away.

After a couple minutes at the most, finally the basket was set down, so he waited till the coast was clear. Slowly but surely, he raised his head up, lifting the lid with it so that he could get a look around.

"You're sitting in a basket in which you can barely move, in order to avoid being put in a cell with room to move and the basic amenities. Tell me you see the problem with this picture here."

What he saw was an outdoor portion of a restaurant, with tables and chairs set up and people conversing and eating. He too, had been put (or rather his basket had been put) on one of the chairs, pulled up to a table. There were some pastries set out on the table, nothing too fancy, and the Ensign sat across from him blowing on a hot drink to cool it off.

Erwyn blinked a few times at this, though his expression remained blank. Painfully slowly, he lowered his head and with it the lid, closing the basket once more.

[Shinku]

A shade of light pink appeared on a rather pale face. The welcome the young man got from his friend was more than just a little bit enthusiastic, it was practically breathtaking. The hug didn’t only lift Kyou from his feet but was also forceful enough to make it hard for him to take a breath. Luckily he was past the point of believing that Otto was an enemy or an ill meaning opportunist or he could have quite easily mistaken the hug as a fierce attack on his life. The grip was strong enough to challenge that of the gorillas, Kyou was sure.
Before the situation became dire for Kyou however, Otto set him down to his feet again. It was reassuring to see that his friend received him so well. Less reassuring however, was to be grabbed by two big gorillas, one who had just been his opponent a moment before, and being dragged away, even if it was just to wash his face.

“It’s EL!!-wood not Edwood.” Kyou reminded himself of what Otto had called the blue gorilla and made a mental note to remember it for the next time. Getting the names right would be a good start. Names were important after all and knowing and using a person’s name could lessen the mistrust.
It had surprised him to see how strict the monkey-man had been with the gorilla brothers, this wasn’t at all like him. So far Kyou had found Otto to be a very laid-back man in general, but also easily enraged if you tried to hurt someone that was important to him. The teacher-like Otto was new to him.
Kyou splashed his face with spring cold water as he pondered this. A few drops flowed down his neck and down his back, making him shiver. For a moment the boy felt both too lazy and too cold to, but watching the two brothers diligently washing themselves he submitted to the ordeal and made sure that he would be looking presentable before taking a towel, they had been a bunch of clean colorful towels in a dresser, just where one would expect them, and dried his hair.

Out of the dojo again, the young man tried to understand the teacher part of his friend better by asking about the dojo’s philosophy, but the monkey-man was too hungry to answer, instead telling Kyou to get his stuff and starting to head to the town without waiting.
Obediently the boy went to get his stuff, picking up his coat first. After the fight he had been feeling hot but the chilly water had soon changed that. Now he was glad to be able to put on something warm. Both the Den Den Mushi and the little turtle looked comfortable out there in the sun, so he left them where they were. They would probably be all right.
Finally he bent down to take his bokken and froze in mid-movement.

“”

What was this? This… wasn’t his sword. No doubt about that, his old weapon had been battered and old and did look nothing like this bokken. For a moment he wasn’t even sure that it was made out of wood because it had a metallic glimmer to it. Hesitantly he reached out with his left hand and took it with great care, holding it as if it could explode any moment.
Had some of this island’s local fairies stolen his sword and replaced it with a new one? That sounded too strange to be true, but the wood didn’t look like it was out of this world. Slowly he let his fingers run over the wood to get a better feeling for it and then lightly flicked his finger against the sword. It WAS wood, strange wood with possibly higher than normal density but still wood. Confused the boy looked up, trying to catch eye contact with Otto.

Whatever Otto was, when it came to hiding his feelings, the monkey-man wouldn’t have won even a beginners contest. When it came to contests, Kyou wouldn’t have gotten any good ranking in a “explain that person’s expression” competition, but he wasn’t all hopeless and the face his friend was making now was one that Kyou interpreted as one of being very pleased with oneself.

“What’s this?” he asked, swinging the wooden sword through the air. It was perfectly balanced. But just when he asked he realized that it was definitely Otto who had exchanged the swords for a reason.
Could this possible be…

… a gift?!

No no no, that was entirely impossible! Why would someone give him a present? Maybe Otto was trying to hint that Kyou shouldn’t keep old junk and finally get serious about their bounty hunting work? Or was the monkey-man trying to get him into his debt to make sure that Kyou would help him out?

“Don’t even think that way, Otto wouldn’t do that!” he thought, shaking his head violently to get the bad thoughts out. Lots of things had happened and if there was something Kyou was sure about, then it was that he never wanted to go back to be the mistrustful guy he was. Of course a bit of careful mistrust was a good thing. Just trusting people because they told you to, would only get you in trouble. But Otto had proven a friend and he deserved the trust.

A gift then! …. ? … right?? The young man looked at Otto expectant as they walked on the little path that would get them to town.

“I’m… not sure what to say. Thanks a lot! I’m very happy about it. I don’t know how I can repay you for it.” He only wished that he had thought to bring along a gift for Otto as well! Kyou’s ears were getting hot from embarrassment, both from forgetting to bring something for his friend as well as for getting a present when it wasn’t even his birthday.
The embarrassment built up and let the young man do something he wouldn’t have done otherwise.

“Whoever’s first in town wins!” he mumbled and started to run, seeing it as the only way to hide his awkwardness from Otto. Escaping was something he was good at and so he ran. He ran until he was out of breath. But it felt good, really good.

[The Shimmering Banana]

“I’m… not sure what to say. Thanks a lot! I’m very happy about it. I don’t know how I can repay you for it.”

Red and pink were the only colors Otto saw as he watched his new friend inspect the gift given to him by the monkey man, Kyou’s cheeks turning a shade of dark red to match his pink hair. Embarrassment ran through him and could be seen on his face as he did not expect such a gesture from the young man nor did he bring anything for him. Not like that mattered to Otto having bought the young man a signal of their friendship, built by master woodworkers a sign of strength and also of justice. Justice being the reason the two ended up friends a mission that started as a simple search and recover turning into what is now a lifelong hunt for a villainous man. The man that had broken apart his new family the same reason Otto and his brothers have been training soo hard, knowing that the day would come when they catch this man and retrieve their younger brothers. Maybe even Kyou would be the reason the man is caught… If he would be Otto couldn't have him attacking such a strong man with that old tattered bokken. ‘It was time for the upgrade’ he thinks as he continues to watch his friends his cheeks darkening to a brick red hue his level of embarrassment rising through the roof. ‘ Yea definitely a good choice’ he thinks once again before Kyou made his next move…

“Whoever’s first in town wins!”

Otto caught off guard when the young man began to run towards the city, the two gorillas instantly accepting the challenge rushing after the boy. He stumbled after them screaming out “ Your on!” Otto always loving a challenge. His hands dug into the ground as he pushed forward, small clumps of dirt flying behind him as he moved attempting to catch up to the trio. The race was on Kyou in front with the two gorilla brothers fighting over second place as Otto brung up the rear. His breathing becoming heavier as he picked up speed attempting to catch his brethren. The distance between the animals and himself closing as Kyou ran at an incredible speed leaving the three of them behind. ‘ Man hes fast’ thinks the afro headed hunter. His breathing calming back down as he attempted to keep level headed during the race, his eyes locking on onto his kin who were acting like bumper cars crashing into one another their growls echoing as they battle it out. Otto catching up to the two with every step finally closing the gap leaping towards them as he changes into his full spider monkey form. With his new size he lands of Elwoods back, hitching a ride, the large beast looking back over his shoulder to see what had landed on him as his head peered back Otto lept off of his onto his brother landing on his shoulder. Jake; always the angrier brother snaps at Otto his face says ‘ get off of me!’. His teeth grazing his half human brother forgetting who he really was surprised to see the small ape on him. "Wow watch it Jake!" the monkey man says his form returned to his hybrid form. The two navy blue apes now behind the half spider monkey man. The pink haired young man a blur in front of them almost crossing the last bridge towards the city.

His shoes rang like clogs as he crossed the wooden finish line; Kyou won the race, not surprising considering he had taken a bit of a lead to begin with. Otto coming in second with the blues brother's still fighting their way to third place. The eldest brother 'Elwood' ending up in third the youngest of the pack coming in last. The bunch of them huddling around each other breathing heavily exhausted from the long run. "No fair you got a head start." his breathing heavier than usual as the city had denser air then his usual islet. It was a bit warmer the the cool breeze being blockaded by the city's landscaping. An enormous stone wall blockading the city from its enemies in the other clans. It was rare that Otto would visit the city, most of the supplies bought for the dojo acquired in the closest town to him Falfries. That place being a lot calmer with an artistic vibe much different than the hustle and bustle of Piktopia. This was his type of place though, the lights and sounds. The entertainment the sear culture of the city. Within a few steps you could just feel it the cobble stone road beneath them spanning as far as they could see. "So how about that lunch?" he questions Kyou suggesting a few places on the street they were on. One of which seeming quite quaint with an outdoor patio perfect for taking in the city. "That would probably be our best bet.. Who knows if the brothers are allowed inside the others?" he insists remembering that Kyou was a visitor here.

[Surua]

"Well at this rate you can stay there for as long as you like, before long I'll have some help to cart you off. Sit in a basket in jail for all I care."

While his plan to just remain hiding forever and also ever seemed good at first, his common sense was catching up with him, and Erwyn decided some other course of action was necessary. And given how capable the Ensign seemed at not letting him escape, it would have to be a drastic action at that. Deciding to take in his surroundings in the hopes of making out some other possible avenue of escape, he slowly but surely raised his head out of the basket again. What he saw though, caused him to retreat even harder than before, if such a thing was possible; the barrel of the rifle laying across the table and pointed right at him.

"To be completely honest, I don't suppose anyone would know to come looking if I needed them, but I wouldn't need their help anyway. Not now at least... wait, blue... monkeys?"

He couldn't see whatever it was (though he could guess), but he had to assume something had caught her attention, at least enough that she interrupted herself in surprise at whatever the sight was. This was probably as good a chance as he was going to get, and quickly reaching out of the basket, he flipped his end of the table upwards. The motion of it caught Rebecca off guard, and almost as a reflex she just squeezed the trigger of the rifle. Of course, having been resting on the table, it now shot upwards into the air and almost sent her tumbling backwards now that she didn't have it properly supported against her body. The gunshot itself was very loud, and caused people nearby who hadn't noticed a gun being drawn and laid out and vacated the area, to understandably react in panic. This was perfect for Erwyn though because it meant a significantly reduced risk of having a large hole put through him, at least until she managed to reload. Taking the chance, he jumped out of the basket and made a break for the building the restaurant was situated in.

"Even if the table hadn't been flipped, I'd have just dodged the shot anyway." he said in a cheeky manner with a grin to match, as he finished what he started, and actually pushed Rebecca over in her chair as he ran past.

With that, he made his way through the entrance, past the serving area and over the counter. Clamoring through the kitchen, he raised some varied protests from the cooks who swung at him or threw whatever they had on hand at him (assuming he was skipping out on a bill), though he managed to avoid them more or less by taking some clever shortcuts. This may have meant he sort of kind rolled over a lit stove accidentally on purpose, but who was judging? Certainly not the waitress he almost collided with on his way out of the kitchen and up a flight of stairs, all the while slightly on fire. He noticed this though and did his best to put it out as he made it to the second floor and looked around.

I'll try jumping out the window, that's a good trick!

Seeing a set of glass windows at the far end of the dining room, he knew as soon as he saw them that his path was set before him. It wasn't so much that he truly knew he could escape by way of the windows, but rather that he just knew nothing ever bad happened when you jumped out of a window while running away. And even if he didn't know it, the restaurant customers certainly would as he crashed through some tables on the way, conveniently accidentally pulling the dining cloth off of one such table along the way without sending the dishes and silverware to the floor. Finally it was that he reached the far wall and without stopping to contemplate how it was his he came to be in this point in life, and he promptly defenestrated himself, leaving a nice little Erwyn-shaped silhouette of missing glass through the window in his wake.

"Next stop, freedom!" he proclaimed as he soared through the air towards the sunset and glory beyond.

Except when he didn't, and at some point he chose to remember that of all things, his jetpack still wasn't functional. To be honest, he hadn't leaped out the window expecting to fly away, but he did expect to land on his feet and hit the ground running. Unfortunately he got snagged on the broken window by that 'lucky' tablecloth and ended up in a distorted trajectory, hurtling down to the ground in a tangled mess. Crashing to the ground outside through some dining tables, hard, he didn't move for a bit given that he was all wrapped up now in a collection of ripped tablecloth and broken glass. Actually he didn't move it all, so it wouldn't be up to him to see that he had misjudged this whole escape plan.

While running away through the building and leaving through an upstairs window might not have been the worst idea, he could have at least made sure beforehand that the window he left through was not on the same side of the building that he entered into. It was, and he had ended almost back where he started, not twenty feet away. It remained to be seen though, what with the sight of some strange monkey fellows and their supposed friend, if the Ensign was aware of this.

That, and the fact that she had a table of food flipped in her face, accidentally fired her rifle in a completely wrong direction and as thanks had been pushed over onto the ground.

[Shinku]

A big impish grin appeared on the boy’s face, an uncommon and rare occurrence. His cheeks were blushed from the exertion of running and he was still breathing a bit heavily but Kyou was feeling proud for winning the race. Even if he didn’t say anything to Otto, Kyou was still sure that he could have won even without a head start. As a somewhat professional coward he had cultivated the art of running away from his earlier years on and even though there had been a time where a deep felt lethargy had made it hard to care about what happened to him and therefore affected his willingness to even bother with an escape, his stay on Dojo Island and the enforced training session had shaped him up again and improved his running even more. Not to mention that he felt more optimistic about the future than he had for a long time.
With a modest nod to Otto’s statement, Kyou acknowledged the true behind it. Even if it wouldn’t have changed the result, using a head start was not exactly fair, maybe especially since Kyou could have won without it. But winning or losing hadn’t been the point, not to Kyou and as it seemed to him, neither had it been to Otto or his blue brothers.

The subject of the race was soon dropped as a more important matter was brought up, that of food.
There was nothing wrong with eating outside in Kyou’s opinion. On the contrary, it would be easier to flee should any sort of trouble arise. Inside of a building they might get trapped and there was hardly any more distressing feeling than to be caged, aside maybe from being stabbed, shot, hanged, poisoned… or otherwise killed.
Even if the people here were tolerant enough to have two big gorillas dinning inside with them, a thing that Kyou kinda doubted as he knew better than to believe in people’s tolerance, the Blues Brothers themselves probably preferred to stay outside, Kyou thought and so he let Otto lead them to a likely outdoor patio. With an abundance of restaurants to choose from it was easier to let his friend do the choosing as he might already know some of the food places already.

They had nearly reached the place already, when Kyou was starting to feel uncomfortable. It wasn’t uncommon for people to have weapons and to bring them along even for lunch, as had Kyou, his new shiny sword secured in his belt. But it smelled of trouble if that person was aiming a rifle at someone sitting in a basket, threatening this person in relaxed way as if was the most normal thing in the world.
It looked like something they should not get involved in. Probably some private matter where one shouldn’t stick one’s nose in.

“Maybe we should-“

… “look for a different place.” He had wanted to say, but Kyou didn’t get to finish the sentence. The woman had noticed their group arriving, big blue gorillas being something that quite stuck out from the crowd, and the basket man used this chance to upturn the table with the rifle and hop off.
Her shot went vertically up where it ricocheted on a metallic flagpole and changed direction. Something fast and small flew past the pink-haired coward, who froze on the spot.
The leather strap of Kyou’s bag, grazed by the bullet, tore apart. Before the boy even could realize what had happened, his possessions were already spilling out of the fallen bag all over the ground. A set of photographs, most of them taken here on Pikt and showing mostly Otto, his gorillas or the beautiful landscape, a simple black notebook which Kyou used as a diary, a few leaves of lettuce – his Den Den Mushi’s favorite dish and the money bag which instantly came undone and spilt all the money over the whole place.
The pink-haired boy’s face immediately turned back to his normal unpleasant frowning face as he watched his coins roll away from him in such zealous way that it made him wonder if they hated him.

The basket man had vanished into the building by now and the woman with the rifle wasn’t aiming at him or at anyone, on the contrary she looked as if she was careful about shooting, so Kyou judged it save enough to focus on collecting his lost items. The people fleeing from the plaza didn’t make it any easier, but Kyou soon had most of his picture together and even managed to find most of his money, though some of it was probably hiding in little holes and gaps or had been taken by someone else and was forever lost.
“Thanks.” He said to Jake or Elwood, who had handed him a picture, and “Thanks, but I don’t think that’s usable anymore.” to the other brother who tried to give him the dirty lettuce, Kyou still couldn’t tell them apart. Now there was only his notebook missing. Where could it be?
It was quite a distance away, probably kicked away by someone running, under one of the tables in front of the building. The boy kneeled down and stoop down under the table to retrieve the book. No sooner had he got his head out again, when the table in front of him scattered under the force of a falling person. A table leg hit Kyou painfully on the forehead as it flew off. A small trickle of blood ran down his face and pale green eyes looked out under very deeply furrowed brows, sourly looking at the bundle of tablecloth on the remains of the table and of course at the man wrapped in them.

“…”

[The Shimmering Banana]

Chaos seemed to follow the group, destruction was almost always a guarantee when Kyou and Otto got together. The addition of the "Blues Brothers" was sure to only make things worse. Perhaps Kyou was onto something as most of the restaurant was focused on the group as they entered the patio area. As Kyou was focused on the rifle atop the table Otto was more concerned with the woman who seemed to be in position of the weapon. ''Shes cute" he thought to himself as his slow paced walk through the patio changed into a strut. His hands patting down the tangled mess on his head, evening out his hair into a perfectly rounded afro. One of his eyes shutting, the monkey man winking at the woman who seemed to be looking at him. That thought quickly changing as the hidden man made his grand attempt at escaping. The rifle firing, the other guest running away from the loud gun shot, Kyou's belongings scattering in every which direction. "Waite I know him" Otto says to himself as the man ran into the establishment heading for the second floor. Otto directing his attention away from Erwyn, more concerned with the well being of the off duty marine woman. With the brothers assisting Kyou he surely had the time to check on the woman who had fallen to the ground. Food covering her beautiful face and stylish clothes, Otto reached out to help the woman to her feet. She gladly accepted his help pieces of noodles falling from her shoulder as she stood to her feet. "Here let me get that" says Otto removing the bowl from atop her head.

The woman running her fingers through her hair making sure that all of the food was out "Thank you" she says bowing at the hunter. "Did you see where he went?" she asks referring to Erwyn as he stood just yards away from them. Otto thought to himself "why would she be looking for him?" As far as he could remember he was a good man even helped transport those criminals some time ago. Even if the main villains did escape but that was another story... "Where did who go?" Otto says pretending to not know to whom she was refering. The young lady pats her clothing brushing off the remaining food as she responded "He a pirate! And he's been avoiding me all day" Otto looked shocked to hear that Erwyn was a pirate yet not quick to judge. Throughout his travels on the high seas he did learn one thing if anything. Dont judge a book by its cover; Otto had encountered plenty of kind hearted folk who classified themselves as pirates. And plenty of others who saw themselves as lawful who committed hideous acts against humanity. Just because one was a pirate or a marine did not mean that they were good or bad. They were just jobs that assisted them in traveling this great world. He glanced behind the woman to see his old accomplice standing their with a tired and confused look on his face.

What had he done and who was this woman he thought as he pointed over towards the pirate "You don't mean Erwyn do you?" he questions as the woman quickly turns to see the man. "Yes.. Yes... Thats him" she stuttered as she grabs her large rifle from the floor and heads towards Erwyn. "But how do you know him?" she asks halting in place as she looks back at the young hunter. Her rifle aimed at him as she assumed he was also a pirate. Otto leaps back "wow wow wow... Calm down lady. I'm no pirate, I'm a bounty hunter and I work for the Buchanan clan. And that man you're chasing is an informant of mine." A lie that perhaps saved both of them this woman being either bounty hunter herself or a marine. He turned his shoulder towards the woman making the crest of the Buchanan clan visible to her. "See there's your proof so if you dont mind ill just be taking my informant." he says walking towards her placing his furry hands on the barrel of her rifle pointing it at the ground. "I'm sorry for the mix up mam. Erwyn get over here!" he calls out.

Otto explained to the woman that Erwyn was under his care and working off his debt to society by helping him catch the real criminals of this world. She looks the pair over as Otto calls the rest of the guys over, who by now should have found all of Kyou's stuff. The woman was seeming to buy his story keeping her rifle pointed towards the floor as Otto spoke. The sight of the world governments guard dogs, the bljr gorillas, helping his case the woman completely lowering her weapon. "Ok... Let's say i believe you for now... But i'll be keeping my eyes on you folks." she says as she walked away from the bunch. "Maybe my friend can take picture for you itll last longer Hahahaha" he says as she fades away into the city. "Been a while Erwyn, I didn't think you were still on Pikt. So you wanna explain why I just had to save you?" he asks his old comrade.

[Surua]

When Otto called out his name, Erwyn stopped playing dead amidst the wreckage of tables and people's lunch, and struggled to free himself from the mess. His success in this ordeal was not nearly the level of success he had with his wondrous escape, so by the time he stumbled beside Otto, he still had a table cloth about him resembling a poncho and a plate of spaghetti on his head. Along the way he noticed another fellow who seemed to have gotten a nasty bump on the head somehow and was bleeding, but he didn't have a chance to stop and find out how or to help. When a monkey man called, you answered!

"N'yeeeeessss ma'am, that I be! A pirate true, but a pirate of what did I never say! For you see the shocking and discount truth is that I am a pirate of information! Yes, I sail the seven seas, preying upon the weak and plundering all the booty I can find! And by sail I mean listen out for, and by seven seas I mean juicy scandals. And by preying I mean prying and by weak I mean gossipers. Also by plundering all the booty I can find, I mean plundering all the booty I can find."

It didn't even matter because Erwyn was talking to literally no one, Rebecca had already walked off before he even finished saying "N'yeeeeessss". As it were, he was actually aware of this the whole time, but he continued anyway under the hope that he might get noticed by a talent agent and become a star! Or at least, that was his motive until Otto spoke to him again.

"Ok so one, I had her on the ropes the whole time, she was totally at my mercy and I was just dragging out her inevitable defeat to make it all the more humiliating. Two, I've been on Picks for... actually I don't even remember how long, like a few days maybe? Either way, I'm not here because I'm stalking you or anything, don't even say something as ridiculous as that." He folded his arms and held his head up indignantly at this, his efforts greatly marred by the spaghetti dripping down his head. "Lastly, oh hey Otto how's it been? Good to see you again, you're looking well! What are you up to then, looks like you made some new friends!" Whether he forgot what his last reason was, or the whole reasoning process interrupted the exuberance of seeing his friend again, Erwyn's demeanor greatly livened up. He even held out his arm expecting to lock hands in a strong, manly and totally not homoerotic mix between a high-five and a handshake.

"Sorry about the mess. As you can see, I don't have any friends like always, and just had a simple misunderstanding with the local authorities. They wanted to arrest me for flying too close to the sun, if you know what I mean." he mentioned with a spaghetti sauced grin.

[Shinku]

“Informant?” Kyou’s mistrust was promptly roused. Wary he watched the so-called informant of Otto as the man made his way over to his friend. The man seemed neither trustworthy nor reliable and the pink-haired man decided to keep an eye on him. Or preferably both eyes, just in case. If the guy would try anything funny then he would regret it at once.
Maybe…
The not all successful attempt to escape was speaking volumes of the other man’s not existing skills in getting away, but on the other hand it was never good to judge a book by its cover. There could be a very exciting story hiding behind the first few pages of prolonged boredom and who knew what strength the silly man was hiding behind his façade of incompetence? It was better to be cautious and on guard rather than to assume an easy win in the case of a possible betrayal.

The more Otto’s informant talked, the more suspicious he sounded, but at least it seemed to be true that they knew each other. Thinking about it, Otto probably knew many people Kyou didn’t have a clue about. It was a quite normal thing to know people and just because his own circle of acquaintances was as small as it was, that didn’t mean that others restricted themselves in the same way. Kyou could remember a time when it had been different even for him…
The thought broke off and had hardly any time to graze his awareness before it vanished deep down to the subconscious as if pushed away by an invisible hand, the minds unexplained security force that suppressed distracting thoughts from his mind until there was a better time to deal with them. Like 3 am for example. Or any other time when he tried to get some sleep…

The more Kyou watched him, the more ridiculous incompetent the man seemed, but of course that might be an act for all he knew. With a deep frown and pale green eyes fixed on the stupid spaghetti plate on the head of the new arrival, Kyou pointedly positioned himself next to his friend, a hand on the shiny new bokken he had gotten from Otto earlier today. Surely enough the gesture would not remain unnoticed?
It’s not like he was going to interfere with Otto’s socializing with other people, his friend was perfectly entitled to do as he liked, nor was he intending to stop the spaghetti-hat man from talking to Otto. A thing the “pirate for information” did without any reservation. Sourly the pink haired man watched his opposite reach out a hand to Otto in a very natural looking way for a greeting between men. A thing Kyou could never hope to do with such a relaxed attitude. Not like he was jealous, it was simply not his style.

“Food… we came here to eat something.” He remembered Otto with the expectation to get his attention and in the not too clearly formulated hope of maybe getting away from the “informant”.

“Excuse me, gentlemen?” a voice behind him sounded and startled Kyou spun around.

He had been so focused on the spaghetti-face man that he didn’t notice that they weren’t alone as he had expected. Not everyone had evacuated the place after the ruckus had stared it seemed and Kyou scolded himself for not keeping proper watch. The frown on his face deepened even more if that was even possible while he warily measured the approaching man.

“I happened to overhear your conversation and gathered from it that you are Bounty Hunters and an Informant heh?” There was something strange about the way he talked, but with Kyou’s bias of everyone who tried to just talk to him out of nowhere, every person would have sounded suspicious.
“Thing is… I’ve been rather busy lately, so busy in fact that I can’t keep up with all the work.” The man was rubbing his hands together in a way that made Kyou immediately dislike him. The pink haired boy was in a very bad mood already and was not inclined to judge kindly.
“In other words, I have a little job I’d like to offer you, if you guys are interested? Just some small and easy work. Decent pay of course. Just the right thing for reliable men like you, no? What do you think?”
Smiling the man waited for their answer. It was the sort of smile that instantly made Kyou want to punch it, as if the face was begging for it. Just that sort of smile.

[The Shimmering Banana]

*Two Days Earlier*

"So I hear your the man to talk to when procuring Fish-Men in the North blue?" says a very large hooded figure to a rather shady gentlemen. "Hm, I've been known to go Fishing." replies the slaver snickering at his own joke. The large figure getting closer to the man his face still covered from the shadow of the hood, yet a white gleam coming from his mouth. "Hmm... Thats good... But I'll be needing a particular Fish." his head slowly rising from its dropped position the sleazy man slowly realizing who or rather what he was. "But.. But.. But your a!" an extremely shocked look came upon the dealer's face. His jaw dropping to the floor as he stopped mid sentence the Orca whale Fish-Man helping him finish. "A Fish-Man!, yes, and I'm also no fool; money rules this world. Power helps acquire wealth and slaves are power, even if they happen to be the same species. Don't you humans enslave other humans?" The man pondering the thought, he was right humans were known to enslave other humans throughout time. So why was it seen as an even more heinous act when a Fish-Man bought another Fish-Man? His teeth chattered as he replied to the large Fish-Man "We..well I guess its like a long arm enslaving another long arm, there from the same tribe you know... It's just wrong." Willy, the Orca Fish-Man laughing in his face as if a slaver had any right to speak about what is wrong and right.

Though throughout most of the world slavery was legal and in some places the main source of income, who wouldn't see it as wrong? Imagine your brother or sister taken away from your home anyone would instantly be devastated by the tragedy. What could be considered kidnapping is all of the sudden justified as soon as the missing person hits the slave trade. Unless you're of some kind of importance in this world. How was that fair? If your raised into poverty your life holds no value compared to those of a noble family. It was quite clear that something needed to change, what gave the government the power to say one life was more valuable than another. The transaction of a life was wrong no matter who said it was legal.

The pair continued their deal Willy explaining the specific details on the Fish-Man he wanted. A local on Pikt, known as one of the best woodworkers, making the job a bit more difficult than just grabbing any old Fish-Man. He was a respected member of the community and well known around the island. He would have to be delivered as soon as he was captured. "So do we have a deal?" questioned Willy with the same maniacal grin on his face. "Deal" replies the slaver "See you two nights from tonight." the villains shaking hands then going their separate ways.

*The present*
"Ok boss were all set... Jimbo is out finding the patsy now and the boys are all in position to go fishing. The harbor has been busy all day so it should go just as planned." a voice says through a den den mushi towards the ring leader of the slavery ring. All the necessary precautions had been taken and today was the day. The group would take Marcus Isngol away from his comfortable life and into the hands of the notorious Fish-Men pirates. "Good just make sure Jimbo finds those patsy's before you send the boys in. I dont want to get pinned for this one, you know they treat this fish like a human." replies the leader "Got ya boss" the den den mushi making a click sound as the men returned to their business.

Back at the cafe the trio huddled up to discuss the offer given to them. "So what do you guys think? He seems kinda shady but not that either of you really care I could use the money..." says Otto need being more of a want of money. The Dojo did still need repairs but nothing he needed to go committing heinous acts over. "Besides there's three of us so worst case scenario we just walk away from the situation. I mean what's he gonna do sell us as slaves Haha" continued the monkey man with no clue of what was in store for them.

[Surua]

"Well I'm not actually an informant, just a pirate, but I'll help out anyway."

When Kyou brought up the concern over food, Erwyn was put to rest most of his other present concerns because he too could go for a bite to eat. And what better way, than to seek the service of the very establishment he had just vandalized. In a way, it was like paying for the damages, though Erwyn could understand if the others were no longer interested in eating at this place.

And then all of a sudden out of nowhere some stranger approached them talking about a job! The pirate had no misgivings about him, because he hadn't spent enough time on the Blue Sea and gotten to know enough people here, for him to have been taken advantage of or betrayed. Unless of course you counted Otto taking advantage of him every step of the way, but he wasn't aware of that and probably would deny it if told so. The important thing was money, which meant that he could pay off his debt to the inn without needing to lose any of his actual treasure, and also without having to work another day performing menial labor. For that, he'd take a decent paying job from someone much more unscrupulous than the fellow standing before them.

"Are you saying that in whispers?" Erwyn asked of Otto when they all huddled together, practically yelling, "Because he's like right there, not five feet away from us and can probably hear." though at some point he seemed to wise up and lowered his tone (or maybe he just felt like he got his point across). "I'll help out if you guys need it though, can't leave my friends hanging after they saved my skin from that marine. Actually I'm still skeptical about that, never did see a uniform... but yeah, I'm sure it'll be fine and that nothing bad will happen either."

If nothing else, his optimism was a good sign of his interest in participation.

"Wait what was that about slavery?"

[Shinku]

Kyou didn’t like the offer, he didn’t like the offer at all. The pink haired man had a big aversion against doing business with shady people, such like the man who had offered them the work.
“You probably look even shadier than he does, with your constant frown, the cold behavior and the dark tattered clothes you’re wearing.” A voice in his head pointed out to him.
“I still have the set of brightly colored hair clips that my sister sent me with her letter. There’s even one with a smiley at the end. Maybe it would make me look nicer if I wore it?” The thought passed through his head, but was interrupted by a harsh thinking voice that was also his own.
“Don’t be stupid, you’ll look absolutely ridiculous wearing that! And since when do you care what people think of you?”
Otto so far hadn’t shown any sign of caring about the shabby look of his. But hair clips or no hair clips, it would probably be helpful to have something that kept the hair out of his face. It would probably make him look more open and approachable - not like he cared to be, on the contrary - as well as letting him see the world around him a bit better and with no hair in between. It was long pass the time where a good haircut was needed. But haircuts costed money and while he wasn’t going to let anyone else wield something as sharp as a pair of scissors around his head, he’d still have to buy a pair to be able to trim the hair himself. Good scissors were pricy and while they didn’t cost the world he couldn’t afford them, flat broke as he was. Which brought him back to the present question: Should they take the job or not?

His friend seemed willing to take the offered job however and while Kyou couldn’t completely shut out the queasy feeling that something was amiss, he still valued Otto’s opinion enough to go along with it. His short visit in the Dojo had shown him the need for money clearly Yet the risks had to be considered.
With a hand on his new shiny bokken, a finger tapping lightly against the smooth wood as he was considering things, he came to a conclusion. In fact the decision had been already made when Otto had voiced his interest in the job, but Kyou was not yet at a point where he would admit to himself, that he was going to follow Otto, no matter if he thought it was wise or not.

The pink haired man was about to announce his decision, but the annoying new guy just cut in loudly before Kyou could get out a word. Frowning deeply Kyou listened to the spaghetti plate man assuring his help, something Kyou felt he should have done before the other guy. It rankled the green eyed boy greatly.

“Forget about the slavery! Otto was only making a joke.” Kyou looked over to the waiting man and nearly grimaced. From the beginning he hadn’t liked the face of that man and neither would he put it passed him to try and sell them as slaves. But there were rules to everything and it wasn’t that easy to sell you as a slave, especially not in the Blues. Not if you were human and not a criminal.
It would be all right, he told himself. He and Otto had fought together before they should be able to handle this, even if things got a little bit messy. With crossed arms and mistrustful spying eyes, Kyou shoot a glance over to the waiting guy.

“Okay. I’m in.” There wasn’t anything more to say than that.

[Surua]

"A joke? Hah, you Blue dwellers have an odd sense of humor!"

Probably just another thing Erwyn would have to figure out sooner or later if he was to adjust to this new life on the waves; the general humor of the people here, and what passed for comedy. In his landing, he very quickly came to find that the cultures of Blue were much more diverse, most likely due to there being not only more habitable land but also the separation of it into distinct islands. If it hadn't been clear to him before, it was made more than clear back on Zarzara Island. That aside, certain things like language and currency seemed to remain consistent throughout, and Erwyn found himself wondering if that held true for certain social tendencies like humor.

Of course it was all in vain, since he believed Kyou utterly.

“Okay. I’m in.”

"Me also."

It was neither here nor there at the end of the day, since he planned to go along with whatever the others would while he was here. He could ponder later the subtleties of comedy, for now there was a stranger before them offering some unspecified work. Suddenly his chores and time spent working at the inn were all so far away now, that there was the prospect of a quick fix with some likely unscrupulous cash. Certainly he could do the honest thing and work hard to pay off his debt, or he could just take a mysterious job from a shady fellow that would likely end badly for someone else.

And after all, isn't that what being a pirate is all about? Actually, probably not, but he was going to do it anyway. At this point, it just had to be good, otherwise he wouldn't be so eager to offer them the work.

"So what sort of job is this, that you're looking for bounty hunters? Wait that was a stupid question... so who do you want us to catch?"

[Shinku]

Right on cue as if the shady man had only waited for them to finish their talk – the spaghetti man was probably right, the guy had been listening in – and was now heading over to join them. The smile on the annoyingly smug face left no doubt that the shady man was expecting them to accept his offer. Well… he was right, but that didn’t make the smile any less annoying.

“Actually, you won’t even have to catch the guy. My buddies have already done that. But since we’re horribly understaffed, we need some good lads like you guys, to help us with the transportation.” The man explained and Kyou frowned mistrustful. Somehow this was strange. If you had enough men to catch a criminal, you should have enough to transport him safely as well. Unless maybe some of them got hurt in the capture? Then it might make some sense to rely on other people while you nursed your wounds. But still, if the criminal was strong enough to hurt a group of bounty hunters gravely enough to make them want help from outside sources then he was no joking matter. This would not be an easy job.

“I’ve always got an ear open to what happens on this island, and I happened to hear that you’re in possession of a ship as well as being the successor of a famous dojo in this region.” The man went on, talking mainly to Otto who he seemed to have selected as the most likely choice for a group leader. “I can’t imagine anyone better suited for this job.”
The generous nod of the man made Kyou want to throw up. There was something repulsive slimy about the guy that the pink haired man just didn’t like.
“But he can’t be a bad guy, can he?” Looking shady like that had to be bad for business. Any man who really was up to no good would certainly take care to look a bit more trustworthy, wouldn’t he? No would accept jobs form guys who’s fishy odor you could smell a long way off.
Only… wasn’t that what they were doing just now?

The man unfolded a map and Kyou reluctantly went closer to get a better look. The map was a bit wrinkled but very detailed and showed the whole of the Pikt Archipelago. Kyou hadn’t seem much from the island yet, but he could guess where they were, more or less.

“My friends will wait for you to pick up the prisoner here. Just a few miles away from the harbor.” The man tapped a greasy finger at a place on the map. “We can’t risk using the harbor, for there will be too many people who could get hurt if something goes wrong. The same goes for natural harbors that the natives use for fishing and the like. Which leaves us with this place here.”
The finger moved from one spot to another. They weren’t exactly close to each other, but neither did they seem far away. On the map that was. Without being sure what scale the map had, it was hard to judge distances.
“This bay is usually avoided by the people, so I don’t think we’ll trouble anyone if you land here to take the prisoner aboard your ship.” The man looked up to see if they were following his explanations and for a moment his pale gray eyes made eye contact with Kyou’s. There was some disturbing glitter in them that made the pink haired boy very uncomfortable.
“You’ll have to split up into groups of course. While one of you, and I expect that to be the owner of the ship, will get the ship to the bay, the other two will transport the criminal overland. I do advice you strongly to take this route here. I actually have to insist on it. It might be harder, since you’ll be avoiding the main streets, but that also means you’ll avoid other travelers and we really want to eliminate all possibilities of people getting hurt by accident.”

The man handed the map over to Kyou who took it pondering. It was strange that the man was so concerned about the safety of the islanders. “Maybe he’s nicer than he looks after all.” He thought.
That didn’t mean he was happy at all to be stuck alone with the spaghetti man for this mission, while Otto took another route, but there was nothing he could say against it. The plan made sense.

“You’ll be given the final destination when you pick up the prisoner.”

Kyou nodded. What else could he do? They wanted the money so they had to do the work to get it.

“Take care Otto, see you at the meeting point later. Let’s go... err... what did you say your name was?” he asked the spaghetti man, his voice more harshly than he had intended. He just couldn’t get himself to like the idea of working together with a guy he hardly knew at all.