Hunted By Dusk

[Kami-Gaz]

Sun rise and due to a freak mist in the night, the dusk pirates had anchored their ship, The Gehenas, in the middle of the sea due to lack of visibility. Then most of the crew went to sleep, save for some random mooks who volunteered to stand watch just in case anything came up in the night. Luckily for the band of not so merry men nothing major happened, save from a drunken brawl between two of the men who decided to stand guard, a brawl that ended with one mook breaking his nose and his wrist. Down below deck everyone was sleeping, unaware of the plan Vivo had for what was to happen, when everyone made landfall. Outside of the captain’s cabin, Vivo was sat propped against her door with one leg bent into a position that could be used as a pillow and one leg outstretched into the empty corridor, sleeping and guarding at the same time. The man had come across a clean suit to use, it was something in the captains quarters and looked like it had not been used in many a year, but it was clean and it was all that mattered to Vivo. He was now going to be clean as he commenced his plan

When morning came and the Dusk’s could see again the anchor was raised and the ship moved forwards again to the land that was on the horizon, writing letters that contained his plans for everyone on the crew, the island known as Frost Kingdom. The place Vivo was set to meet his previous employers after he completed his task of assassinating the red head that had eaten their devil fruit. That red head was Amy and Vivo was now serving as her bodyguard for a few reasons, the first of which being she saved his life. As the morning went on and the crew got to work pulling the ship into port Vivo would go to his usual training spot but instead of practicing he would just look out to the land that was slowly getting closer.

The deaf swordsman was thinking about the show of strength that the cyborg had displayed last night, it was not half bad. Chete had reclaimed the respect that was stolen from her in the previous days on the ship, when she hid behind Vivo and when Amy herself mentally tortured her in front of the crew. Her new tools will certainly come in handy, and if Vivo ever had to fight Chete they made her a great threat to his all-out style, Chete is an opponent he would most likely have to be careful with. However, they should not have to fight, for they are on the same crew.

Within a few hours, the Gehenas made port and Vivo was stood just on the edge of the gangplank holding a few pieces of paper, containing orders for people. One was for Amy, it simply read: “Captain Amelia, for the duration of this operation I would request you stay in your fairy form and hidden in my jacket until I state otherwise. I would also need a portion of your hair, a little of your blood and a pouch of fairy dust to prove your ‘demise’… Once we have those and some other things we will set off into the Frost Park.”

The next letter was for the cyborg, she was going to play a key part in this plan just as Amy was. “Lilia I need you to grab yourself a warm jacket and some winter clothes for this trip, we’ll be gone a day or two… I will handle our rations; you handle your own health. Captain Amelia will remain with me until it is safe for her to do otherwise. I want you to meet me outside of the entrance to the Frost park in two hours. Is that okay? If so give me a nod before we depart.”

A few more letters were distributed to the remaining crew of mooks, by the end of his Run Vivo would nod to everyone in confidence. His eyes already focused on his mission, just like when he was a marine back in the day. Commanding an operation into enemy territory was not new for this strange swordsman, but leading so many people was. Once all of these notes were delivered the bodyguard returned to the gangplank and stood there casting his cold gaze over the crew, his sword in hand, he was giving of the aura of a leader, someone who was about to lead his men into a battle where they were going to fight for life and death.

Shifting his frig from the scabbard to the handle the deaf swordsman would step to the side and point his sword into the air as he looked to Amelia. As he did, he opened his mouth and roared to announce the start of the operation. His roar was deep long almost beast like and ended as his right arm brought the weapon down in a swift motion. ‘This should hype them up enough.’ Everyone was told only what they needed to know for now, and until more information was needed to be divulged, the man would like to keep people in the dark.

The mooks dispersed, some went into the ship some stayed in their position, and the rest all filtered past Vivo and then vanished into the frozen walled city. Each one was looking for something, things that will be useful later on in the plan. For now though… those mooks had no real use and this was too keep them busy and kind of out of trouble. This was just a plan to show Vivo trusted them and that they should trust him.

[Blaka]

Kulira had indeed gained the respect of the people, just like her fellow newcomers. After her demonstration of power and obvious madness the other day, nobody dared looking at her in a disrespectfully again. Nobody yelled at her for smoking below deck. Nobody even went near her voluntarily. Unlike Amelia, who only saw their fear as an intermediary stage, she liked it this way. It was exactly what she had also been craving for, the horror in people's eyes when they looked at her. How terrified they all had to be when the madwoman went back to bed like nothing happened, in the crew quarters, with everyone else. Amy's supposed power over them prevented everyone from trying to get rid of any of the new people in their sleep. Most of them likely thought that Cheteria was some sort of guard over them during the night. With Vivo protecting the throne room and the fairy woman sleeping inside, it was only natural to think that the cyborg was dispatched to keep the weaklings from plotting.

The next morning, while the rest of the crew was getting the ship ready to sail into the Frost Kingdom Port, Chete did her first round tour of the ship. The Gehena was big and the first day here had been filled mostly with humiliations, so she had never gotten to it until now. Esspecially the second level interested the blonde, as she had no idea what was even there safe for the canons which one could see from the outside. Pleasantly surprised, she discovered a storage room with all sorts of weapons, ammunition and junk. A door lead from here to the gun deck - and another one through here to Lila's new favourite room on the entire vessel: A prison area. 16 iron cages stood her in two neat rows, eight on each wall, a path between them to walk through. An idea appeared in the mind of the murderous cyborg. An idea that wouldn't only solve all her own problems with sometimes being trapped outside on the sea with no access to land. This idea could be used to make the crew rich and famous! Turning around on the spot, the blonde hurried up on deck in hopes of finding the Captain there to present her wonderful flash of genius.

Unfortunately an opportunity to speak with her didn't present itself at the moment. The Dusk Pirates had arrived in the Frost Kingdom. Or rather, Frost City. A gigantic stone wall sourrounded the place, a drawbridge in front of them was the only way in. Looking through the entrance there, one could make out a long, rather confining corridor that lead into town. Faint mist was still hanging over everything. Not exactly the most welcoming of welcomes.

Mr. Segno handed the guitarist her letter with orders, which she responded to with a confused look. Winter clothes? To be honest, she had planned to take her menacing cloak and wear her killer outfit under it. Granted, that would probably be hellish after a while, only bandages on her torso and the thin cloth of the cloak couldn't exactly protect her from the cold. But that would have been the point. After half freezing to death on Sedna she still planned on training her body to withstand the temperatures more and more. Yet, the confused look turned into an affirmative nod. If the mute brute was planning something big, this wasn't the time to unnecessarily handicap herself.
Miss Akuvutika was the first to go past Vivo and step on solid ground. The roar behind her did indeed what it was supposed to. Beasts, they were! Dangerous, mighty beasts led by a goddess!

Despite her orders, Kulira had still kept to her planned outfit until she would find a store. It must have looked rather funny and weirdly creepy at the same time, the tall hooded figure in the black cloak shouldering a guitar case. Said figure didn't take very long until the narrow corridor opened up and revealed a huge market place brimming with all sorts of people. Young kids, old geezers, rich noblewomen and poor workers. For a second the musician stopped walking and kept standing at the edge of the marketplace. Before joining up with the crew, her brain had had the extremely dangerous habit of picking the first person her eyes fell on on a new island as her next target. And it tried again when her eyes fell on a guy walking past her. Immediately, his panicking face flashed before her eyes and she had to imagine the sound of his neck snapping. But this time, Lila caught herself. She didn't need to do this anymore! Not after her idea would work out!

Instead, her eyes focused on a wooden sign a few meters to her left. The Purple Foxglove it said. And it had the crude drawing of a hand on it that pointed at the entrance to a shop below it. Alright. Winter Clothes.

[Fluffy Lynx]

WORD COUNT: 1011

TAGGED: @lynx

TAGGED:

The wind was caressing her dark brown locks, like a loved one showing her the upmost care and affection. The silken-dress that she wore was flickering with every gust of wind. With the sails raised, they were making good headway through the waves, the destination of the Dusk Pirates coming ever closer. From the front, rose-petals were being carried away, across the ship, as they loosened from the hair of the woman whom stood at the helm. The rainbow colored eyes were watching off into the distance, as their destination were coming ever closer into sight. The girl wore a short, black silken dress with several cuts into the fabric, giving it a rather loose appearance. The boots werereaching to just above her knee, leaving a slight bit of bare skin visible just below her thighs. Over her rather inviting attire, she wore her captains uniform with the insignia of the Dusk Pirates clearly visible across the back. It was the only thing that kept the otherwise petite and light dressed girl warm enough to withstand the cold weather of the region.
Initially, this trip hadn't been planned. The Frost Kingdom was a place where rules and regulations were in effect, taxes were being paid and there was a day to day security when it came to trades. As such, prices were naturally going up, and as they needed a lot of supplies for their journey towards the Grand Line, she'd have preferred to find a cheaper place. There was, however, a small complication. It was from this exact region, this exact island, that Vivo Segno had been sent out with the mission of eliminating the Fairy, who was now his captain. To show his good will, and dedication towards their cause, Vivo had shared this information with his captain. For anyone to think that they could lay a hand onto her or her crew, was preposterous. So she had quickly decided that it was overdue to go there and teach them a lesson. With Vivo's promotion to First Mate, he was giving out several orders and taking some responsibility off of Amy in the day to day work. Especially because there were many who remained rather insecure when it came to talking with Amy. Overall, she was fond of her decision.

The scheduled arrival-time for the frost kingdom had been almost exactly what Amelia had anticipated. The crew, which she was governing with an iron hand, had once again started to work together. The process was slow but secure, as their fear was turning into respect. The woman wasn't terrorising them, nor was she being unpleasant, but her sheer willpower and pressence was enough to make the especially submissive crewmembers whimper. When it came to navigating or taking care of them within the medical bay, she was also doing a rather competent job. It wouldn't take more than a couple of months before they would all prefer her, compared to their prior captain. The way the new hierachy worked, was also one that most seemed to agree with, at least on the surface. For someone to climb the ranks and earn the favor of their lady, they had to prove willingness, dedication and strenght. Cheteria had done so, when she had requested Amy's aid, only to prove that, with her new found strenght, she was a force to be reckoned with. Several others had requested a hand from Amy in the following time, but she had been far too exhausted to really work on anything large.. But, the way she had overpowered the resistance onboard, and how she had rooted out those who had stood in her way, both with intelligence and by force, left little to no questioning that she was the alpha. This exact development was what she had been hoping for. So now she was standing topside, on the deck of the Gehenas, the boat which the dusk pirates comanddeered, looking off to the Frost Kingdom, which was now visible in the not-so-far horizon line.

They arrived at the harbor, and the gangplank was down. Vivo was handing out his notes in an attempt to communicate his plan. Naturally, Amy couldn't lead everything, but taking orders certainly wasn't her style either. Looking at the note with a lifted eyebrow, she let out a soft sigh, followed by a groan. Then, walking back onto the deck, she took up a small knife and cut a lock of her hair off, before handing it over to Vivo. The lock of hair was glittering with the fairy dust. Vivo, however, wasn't given a single drop of her blood. "..I'm sure the blood of just about anyone would do. Don't tell me they could immediately see the difference." It was said calmly, matter-of-fact, and as such it was made obvious that she had no intention of shedding any of her own blood. Then, she turned to address the crew. "Those of you who are good at woodworking, I've left a request for several modifications to the ship. I fully expect you all to be able to do this, while we take care of a small few matters on the island."
With that, she slowly stepped down the gangplank. For now, there was no reason to climb into Vivo's pocket. That was going to wait until they were actually approaching the area, where Vivo would do his... thing.

[Kami-Gaz]

A long sigh left Vivo’s mouth as he watched the captain ignore his last order, he did expect this to happen, and it just meant there was going to be more if a fight later on. The cyborg however seemed to understand her orders and moved on to carry them out without needing to ask any questions, which was good, it meant that she was competent enough to at least get those basic orders done. The swordsman watched his captain’s lips as she told the remaining mooks to get to work fixing the ship up and making her alterations, he was annoyed that she went against his plans from the get go. The only thing she did do was give him some of her hair coated in her fairy glitter.

Putting the glittery hair into a small pouch Vivo then pulled his sword free of its sheathe and quickly cut the palm of his hand before squeezing some of his own blood into the pouch to coat the hair. If Amy did not want to get hurt then he would take the pain for her, it was his job as bodyguard after all. Most of the mooks had already left at this point, going to do what the little slips of paper ordered them to do, orders that everyone else will get revealed to them later. Most of them seemed to go away from the walled town that they docked near and into to the wilderness.

‘If she is going to be bratty about being protected then I will have to shout at her.’ Vivo thought as he followed the woman down the gangplank, whilst sheathing his sword, the pouch of bloodied glittery hair still in his hand. At the bottom of the gangplank Vivo moved around the young woman and blocked her path so he could give her some hand signs, the problem there was he did not know if she could understand them or not, even if they were basic. Once he had Amy’s attention the deaf swordsman placed the pouch into his jacket pocket before pointing at Amy, he then took his thumb and forefinger and made a shrinking motion as he made them come together. He then pointed to his Jacket pocket. ‘You better get in my pocket fairy or I’m going to get loud.’ He thought as he waited for her response. He did not wait long for it because one of the mooks tapped Vivo on his shoulder.

“Uhh, Mr Segno? Y-your orders… ” He said as the bodyguard snapped his head around to look the younger man straight in the eye before reading his lips. The mook shivered before jumping back to get to a somewhat safe distance “You want us to get food and supplies for two weeks? Where? With what money?” He asked before shrinking down as he waited for Vivo’’s response, which was a mainly a light shrug of his shoulder before holding his hand out to get the paper his orders were given to him too.

The young man gave the bodyguard his sheet as Vivo pulled a pen out of his pocket, quickly he started to jot down some notes on it. It was a minute before the mook got his full response as the paper was handed back to him. As he read the explanation out loud that Vivo gave his face made a funny shape, as if he had eaten a lemon. “You’re pirates, do what you do best and steal that shit, I don’t care how you get it. Just meet me, the cyborg and your captain at the meeting point with all of that stuff and I will not hunt you down and kill you when this is over. Now look up and see how pissed off I am at you.” As he finished reading he looked up to the pair and then saw Vivo’s face. It looked full of annoyance, his eyes were cold and staring through the young man as if he was invisible. It filled the mook with dead and he ran away shouting. “Yes sir, I will get everything sorted for you sir!”

The second the mook was gone Vivo cracked a smile, the ability to instil fear and make people run away to do the orders that were given to them was always good. It was a real shame that didn’t work on his captain who was the main focus of this mission, she needed protection for quite a deadly crew of pirates who had made their base within the frost park. They had spies everywhere, and even the smallest of things got through to them after enough time. The fact Amy was reluctant to get into Vivo’s pocket would just make surprising them all the harder.

[Blaka]

Meanwhile, Kulira stepped inside the Purple Foxglove. It was a small clothing store, lit by the two large windows left and right to the door, so bright daylight gave it a welcoming atmosphere. Little square tables were placed randomly around the wooden room, stacks of clothing neatly sorted on top of them. All sorts of clothes too, socks, underwear, corduroy trousers, button-up shirts and jackets. Still, every table looked more or less the same. With a few exceptions of white striped patterns, every single piece was coloured in a deep dark violet. Even the carpeted floor of the shop had this colour. Even the shopkeeper!

A young woman hurried towards her hooded customer. She had tailbone length lilac hair, kept in place by a pink headband, unnaturally pale skin as if she hadn't been out in the sun for months and big bright lavender eyes. From the clothes on her person, it was definetely clear she wasn't going outside all that much, otherwise she would have turned into a purple popsicle immediately: A strapless orchid dress with pink feathers attached to the neck- and hemline. Additionally, thin, almost see-throug gloves that went up to her shoulders, also riddled with feathers. Clearly summer fashion, nothing for the climate outside.
"Welcome ma'am!" The woman smiled and did a little curtsy in front of the cloaked figure who was towering over her. "How can I help you?"

Lila let her guitar case slide of her back onto the floor and used her left hand to remove her hood.
"I'm going to the park. I need something warm."
"Hunting, eh?" The shopkeeper nodded and turned around to get the requested things "You've come to the right place!"
While the lady was scurrying from table to table, grabbing something here and there on the way, she continued blabbering. Exactly why Cheteria didn't need any more human interaction as absolutely necessary...
"That's a guitar, right? I can't even begin to describe how much I love good musicians. You' good at it?"
"Mhm..." Chete grunted. It was pretty exhausting to hold back and not slaughter the annoying floozy, take what she needed and go on her way. But not here. Every person passing by on the street could see inside and they couldn't afford any trouble if her plan was supposed to work.
"You should try make some money with it!" suggested the lilac lass as she got back, a pile of garments in her arms, which she put on another table next to the guitarist before hurrying over to the windows and pulling the mauve curtain closed.
"Now you can change in peace."

Without saying another word, Miss Akuvutika did as she was asked. The impressed look on the salewoman's face as she revealed the body under her cloak went unnoticed. She just quickly put on the assigned items: Padded white pants on her legs and a jazzy pink longsleeve shirt with the label "SHIKON" across the chest. On top of that a white and plum striped knit turtle neck jumper with slightly too long sleeves that covered her entire arm safe for the very tips of her fingers. Finally, a light pink, almost white, down jacket that went down to her knees. The whole thing looked ridiculously girlish on the monstrous cyborg killer, but she didn't care. As long as it filled Mr. Segno's requirements it would be fine.

All of the sudden, the moment she had put on her jacket, her left wrist was grabbed by the shopowner behind her. Quickly turning around, Chete tried to break free of her grip, but the woman held on to her. The friendly look on her face was replaced by a malicious grin.
"A bad-tempered one, eh?" For some reason, Lila relaxed immediately. "Why fight back? You have no reason to, do you, eh?"
Why indeed? Any and all care had left the Dusk Pirate's mind. There was no reason to listen to what this woman was saying, but there was no reason not to, was there?
"Oh the look on people's faces everytime!" the store owner giggled "Shiro Kara. Works on anyone. You just put on my fancy jacket - and stop caring about anything."
Kulira saw her mouth moving, but the words went right past her. It didn't matter anyway.
"Come child, to the others. We'll make some money with your music I assure you."

At a smart pace, Kulira was led past all tables, behind the counter and into a much darker backroom. No furnishing graced it, aside from a bed and a small nightstand at the far end of the room. No light was coming from anywhere either, safe for a big candle on the nightstand, next to an equally large snailphone. Three people sat inside here, all of them wearing the ridiculous violet outfits presented in the front. But they all behaved differently. One, a huge guy with shoulders as broad as Chete was tall, in a sweater with some sort of blue symbol on his chest, was giggleing to himself and snorted with laughter when the two women entered. Next to him sat a beanpole-thin businessman in a tight pinstripe-suit was constantly punching a red dot on the ground in front of him. His knuckles were bleeding from who knows how long he was doing this. On the opposite side of the wall, a teenage girl, maybe sixteen, in a dark blue skirt, was sobbing uncontrollably. All of them were chained to the wall by the necks and wrists. One pair of shackles was still hanging down next to the sad girl, ready for a fourth person.
"Hey people!" greeted the lilac lady her apparent prisoners. "Rejoice, you get to leave soon! Dearest" she said in Chete's direction "Why don't you make yourself comfortable over there?" she pointed at the spot by the free chains "I gotta make a call."

With no reason not to obey, Lila scuffed over to the appointed spot and sat herself down. Looking at these people, something in the back of her mind slowly woke up. Wouldn't she have normally killed this lady for doing this to her? Something was definetely odd...
But it wasn't enough to make her do anything yet. For the moment, she just sat there, trying to figure out why she even walked over here. Looking for answers by investigating her kidnapper, she calmly listened to the lady's call.

"Sir? It's Wofi. Wofi Irira."
Sir? A Marine?
"What do you want?" the person at the other end snapped at her. His voice was more of a growl, as if a bulldog was talking.
"The shipment's ready for pick up sir. Good stuff this time." Miss Irira's voice on the other hand, while warm and welcoming at first, then malicious and gleeful, had now turned into a timid tone.
"I decide that what's good enough." the other one gnarled "We'll be there in a week, don't mess up this time."
"Yes, sir, sorry, sir. Got them chained up now so they can't run."
"Good. You get to be the merchandise if it's not there when my people come pick it up. Clear on that?"
"Yes, sir. I understand."

It was the visible shaking of the violet woman that ripped Chete out of her trance. The jacket! In no time she quietly slipped out of this coat. Instantly, a wave of emotions hit her. Her heartbeat rose, her breath got heavy. Symptoms she always got before going for the kill. On top of that, the knowledge that her plan was going to be much easier than estimated!

Her brain, being wired differently from all the experiments compared to a normal person, had taken some time to get used to the emotional influence of the colour trap. But while any regular human wouldn't have been able to break out of it. Cheteria however, was very much used to the feeling of emptiness. And so she had quickly acclimated to the circumstances.

"Right. You'll hear from us."
The Den Den Mushi clacked as the Marine on the other end hung up without waiting for a response. Miss Irira sighed and just stood there for a moment to get her shaking under control. Unbeknownst to her, this moment was a fatal mistake. Suddenly, two hands grabbed her head from behind, one covered over mouth and nose, the other, cold hand, was firmly placed on the back of her skull. Shrill laughter rang in her ears.
"Shrihi. Shrihihihihihi."

[Fluffy Lynx]

WORD COUNT: 710

TAGGED: @lynx

TAGGED:

Stretching herself to her full lenght, the girl let out a few moans and sighs of pleasure. Following this up with a content yawn. Standing there at the bottom of the gangplank, she was taking in the scenery. Crates were being loaded onto ships, and there were several interesting scents in the air. Spices, perfumes, deodorant, cologne. There were naturally scents of food aswell, mostly scents of different fish and vegetables. God, how Amy hated living solely off of fish. Looking at her own list of things that were required for their trip onto the Grand Line, the girl scratched her own cheek idly. The most important thing was, naturally, making sure that the food they had with them held the proper nutritions to stave off scurvy and all the other diseases crews usually attained when fed the wrong things. After that, they needed an extra set of supplies to repair and create several new sails in the event that the old ones should be destroyed. Then came the thought of having an additional rudder. The last thing anyone would want, would be being stranded on a boat without any options of moving onwards. A ghost ship situation, of sorts. Mumbling to herself, she started stepping forwards, clearly deeply lost within her own thought. In fact, she was so preoccupied that she wasn't paying enough attention to Vivo's gestures. Hardly noticing that he was attempting to claim her attention, she had inadvertedly gotten herself into trouble almost immediately. One of the guards on the harbor had noticed their ship, and now the girls outfit. Naturally, they'd be questioning her.

"Excuse me ma'm. Before I can let you freely pass into the Frost Kingdom, you'll have to state your business within, and why you're wearing a Jolly Roger."

Amy rose her head from the note, tilting her head to the side and looking at him as if he was a comparably insignificant obstruction to her progress through the Frost Kingdom as a maggot. Even so, the good man had asked a question, and she was going to be absolutely forthright with him. Responding in a soft tone, it was clear that there was a mild frustration hinted. "I'm here in search of supplies." Waving the note around, pointing to it and allowing him to read what it said, she then followed it up. "Other than that, I'm looking to pay someone a personal visit. The Jolly Roger here is, naturally, used as a banner to rally my crew under." Every single word she said was true to its core. Combined with the fact that she looked absolutely harmless, the overseer was mumbling something and looking thoughtful, before he bowed his head and offered the pirates a cold welcome. Naturally, he wasn't completely happy with the situation, and someone would likely be assigned to keep an eye on this.. potential threat to his country. Undeterred, Amy simply started moving forwards, mentioning something about the indecency to question her directly, rather than going through one of her minions. Coming to think of indecency, it wasn't until now that she realised the disappearing act of Cheteria. The other woman hadn't said a word as they had headed on to solid ground, and with Amy's complete lack of attention to detail in the current situation, she had simply missed it. Unsure of wheter leaving Cheteria on her own would be a good thing, it wasn't like she was going to babysit the crew either. If Cheteria got into trouble, it'd be on her own hands to sort it out. Looking thoughtful, she knew that Vivo had given the other woman a set of orders aswell. It was possible that Cheteria wasn't doing something horrible right this moment, right?... Riiiight... 

Turning to finally face Vivo, the overseer was moving away to greet the other ships. "..Did you send Cheteria out to do something specific?.. Also whats with that grimace on your face? Your expression is as if you've eaten something nasty." It wasn't obvious to Amy just how badly she was getting on Vivo's nerves. Either that, or she simply didn't care.

[Kami-Gaz]

The entire time that Vivo was trying to motion to his captain that she should be in his pocket she was off doing something else entirely. Vivo only noticed when he finished watching the mook read his note and run away. Amy had gone and talked to the gate guard to the town and was already wanting to go in. ‘I will throttle her if she keeps doing this.’ He thought before grunting to lead her into the town.

The pair had one stop before heading to the park and Vivo did not let on to Amy what that was as he walked ahead of her to lead her on into the town. The pair would walk for a few minutes as Vivo looked for the one store that had what they needed. Frost kingdom like Sedna was still in the middle of winter and the floor was coated in an ankle deep snow that was littered with foot prints. As Vivo lead Amy more the amount of foot prints slowly got smaller. ‘Aha found it!’
Vivo thought before stopping in the street and opening the door to a camping supplies store.

A few moments later and he was inside and picking up a large bagged up tent before reading the side. ’five man tent with luxury entrance way. Ehh this will do, I don’t know how much space the girls take up…’ He thought before moving to grab three sleeping bags, one blue for himself, and two pink for the younger girls and a hiking bag. The sleeping bags were deigned to deal with the cold climate of the frost kingdoms winter and the hiking bag easily had the capacity to hold all of it. The pale tan bag was slung onto his shoulder before carrying on to look at some basic camping gear that would let them cook. ‘This is just in case we don’t make it to any huts on the way, and we don’t need to worry about food too much…’ Vivo thought as he grabbed a basic set of cooking gear, a few pots, and an oil powered stove that came with a few cans of oil. The swordsman would scan around the shop again before heading to the counter; this was everything essential that the group was going to need .

As the body guard placed the bag of items on the counter he would watch eh shop clerk half assely tally up his bill. The old man that was doing it was clearly a grumpy old man, he was probably from Sedna. “That will be…” He said before pausing and looking up and down Vivo, taking in the fact he was wearing a suit and had a fancy looking weapon. “50,000 Beri. You look like you can afford it.” He said before smirking, was this a joke? Because vivo was not laughing.
A scowl came across the face of swordsman as he pulled his sword out from its scabbard and in one swift motion embedded it into the wall besides the shop keeps neck and mouthed. ‘Free’ He slowly inched the blade closer and closer to the man’s making the scratch in the wall crumble and crack with the sound of his metal sword screeching against the brick. ‘Everyone is always in my pocket.’ He thought as the now whimpering old shop keep slid down to the floor nodding as he did.

“Take it! I am sorry I tried to con you! I’m so sorry!” He shouted out before realising that he was now in a puddle of his own urine. ‘That’s a lesson taught to that guy.’ The deaf swordsman thought as he pulled his weapon out of the wall, making dust and small red stones fall on to the shopkeepers head. “P-please come again…,” he whimpered again as Vivo picked his stuff up and headed for the door. He was late; Chete would have probably made it to the park entrance by now.

As he walked out, he looked around quickly before walking at a faster pace than he did last time, hoping Amy would keep up. He did not want to be in town longer than he had to with Amy not being in his pocket. It would only be a matter of time before someone recognised her and reported it to the enemy. The park was not too far away and in a minute Vivo arrived at the entrance, but before he went anywhere near he ducked into an alleyway.

Staring at Amy, he would frown and make the gestures for her to turn into her fairy form. First he would point at her, then make a decreasing size between his fingers, and thumb. After that he pointed to his pocket and then the sign that read “Welcome to frost park! Home of the best hunt in the North Blue!” This was the last chance before he got loud, and he wanted to have the element of surprise against the pirates who want her dead.

[Blaka]

Contrary to her captain's hopes, Kulira was indeed doing something horrible again.

She was still standing behind the purple-obsessed saleswoman. Everything else about the scenery had changed in a manner could tell the story of what happened in the past few minutes on its own. Her mouse gray boots were standing in a large puddle of blood. Blood originating from multiple head injuries of her victim, who was kneeling in it herself. Missing a few teeth, wheezing, barely consciouss, only prevented from collapsing onto the bed in front of her by the cyborg's firm grip on her throat.

"Was that so hard?" Lila scoffed, finally having recieved an answer to the question she had been screaming in Miss Irira's face over and over again.
Her spare right hand, reached over to the Den Den Mushi on the night table and put in the number Wofi had revealed. The hand was trembling in excitement. An opportunity to set her plan in motion! So soon!
*purrupurrupurru* sounded the phone
"What's his name again?" she asked while waiting impatiently for the other end to pick up.
"M..Megoszul..." whispered the beaten woman "Lieutnant Megoszul..."
Before Chete could react the voice from before gnarled at her through the reciever:
"What now?!"
"Lieutnant Megoszul?" Cheteria greeted him calmly. Barely, she could suppress the shaking in her voice.

For a few seconds, there was silence on the Marine's end. Only the continous sound of the giggleing huge guy and the sobbing of the girl were audible.
"Where is Wofi?" the officer finally replied, a dangerously aggressive undertone in his voice.
"Hold on she can tell you herself." With a maniacal grin Miss Akuvutika held the reciever directly in front of the lilac lass' face. Then slightly raised her left leg and stomped with the metal foot down on the storeowner's calfs
"KYAAAAAAAH!" The stomp provoked a terrifying high pitched scream right into the other guy's ears, who yelled out in return.
"Okay, okay, who are you!?" he bellowed "And what do you want!"

"Me? Shrihihi...you will only know me as the Preacher of Avalon. I speak for a powerful goddess from the land of fairies: Amelia LeSorange Delacreux."
"What? Buhahaha! I never even heard that name before. Don't bullshit me smallfry!"  Seemingly relieved that it wasn't somebody who actually posed a danger, the Lieutnant talked back.
"You can kill Wofi, I don't care, she's out of the job! We'll send some guys over and they'll gut you for disturbing our operation. We have customers who are waiting, can't afford this crap!"
"Shrihihi..." oh what a poor man this one was... time to lay some groundrules "I don't want to disturb you. If we wanted we could crush you in a moments notice. I want in."
"Buhahahahaha! Listen to yourself!"

Of course, by now Kulira actually believed in what she was saying. The powers she had witnessed were beyond anything any human being could hope to stand up to, if the deal went bad, surely would have a proper response.

"Here's my offer."
"Are you listening? You don't get to offer you get to die!"
Undeterred by the guy's comments, the blonde continued.
"Your pet here has only three people for you. If you meet with us we give you twenty."
The laughter stopped. A couple of seconds went by before the clearly corrupt soldier finally replied.
"Fine, preacherwoman. You have my number. I have your captain's name. Two weeks. We have people anywhere in the world, just call me and I send somebody over. If you don't have the wares, we just take you instead."
*gatcha* quacked the Den Den Mushi. Megoszul had hung up.
"Shrihi! Shrihihihihi!"

---

"Shrihihi!" Lila was still laughing to herself as she left the shop. Now there were four badly battered corpses in the backroom, a small treat in exchange for having to hold back on her next 20 potential victims. Given that her bloodsmeared footwear would likely attract attention she had taken a pair of light pink knee-high feathered jump boots with her. Additionally, a violet checkered down jacket in exchange for the last one. After making sure that there weren't any weird symbols stiched into it of course.

Shortly afterwards, with another quick stop at a stationary store in between, the weirdly dressed woman arrived at the entrance to the Park. Here, she found Mr. Segno and Amelia. Vivo was making hand signs over and over again to order the fairy woman to go inside his pocket. And their captain was clearly not fond of doing so. Unfortunately, the mute was unable to explain himself any further. Thankfully, Cheteria had just what they needed to solve their situation.

Upon arrival she bowed her head in front of her goddess.
"Forgive me my captain" the android started as she took out her gift for the swordsman she had bought on the way "I think Mr. Segno only wants to enter the park undetected. A warden seeing your flag would mean trouble."
Turning to the angered ex-Marine, the guitarist handed him her present: A small notebook and a pen. Awkwardly looking less at his face and more at his chest, avoiding eye-contact, she mumbled:
"Got this for you...thought you might like it."

[Fluffy Lynx]

WORD COUNT: 710

TAGGED: @lynx

TAGGED:

Vivo may have thought they needed only one stop, but that was naturally not the case. Everytime the girl saw something that she found interesting, of course they had to stop for a few moments to inspect! Tatooist, jewelry, tailoring, shoes. Naturally, all of these stops were relatively short, as Amy didn't find much of interest. Aside from the jewelry, of course! Amy could always use a new pair of earrings. ...Oh! Those boots were simply adoreable! Grey, fitted with fluff, perfect for walking through even the coldest weather, and then there was the makeup, and the gorgeous dress, a pajamas and...... Wait a second, where had Vivo gone off to? Suddenly all interest she had had in shopping completely vanished under the sun. Standing there on the street, she looked around for a few moments, confused as to what had happened. It seemed that the man who had so diligently moved towards his destination, his goal, had completely lost track of Amy!.. At least from her perspective. Surely it wasn't her task to keep an eye on Vivo, right?! Absolutely shameless for him! To think he would leave a shopping woman out of sight, even if for a moment! So now she was on her own. Fortunately, Amy knew where they were headed. They needed to get to the frost park, where hopefully Cheteria would be waiting for them aswell, ready to rumble for the apprehension of those devious criminals who had so thoughtlessly ordered her execution! Puffing herself up, Amy was a strong and independant woman who didn't need no man! Marching off in the direction of the park, she would make sure to scold Vivo for disappearing when they met up again... Weather wise, the wind was picking up, and the frost of the country was really starting to bite. The cold weather was starting to actually reach the Captain unpleasantly at this point. Scantily clad, she wasn't exactly dressed for traversing a country as cool and frigid as this. Shivering, breathing deeply, she was rubbing her shoulders to attempt and gain some heat. Perhaps it had been best if she had gotten some proper clothes. It should've been a priority!... If only she hadn't been so busy thinking about everything else. Closing off her mind to the weather, she simply stepped through the cold. It felt like it was slowly taking bites off of her, as her fingers and toes started going numb. The trek to the park was quite a lenghty one, and Amy surely didn't gain heat during the process.


Essentially arriving at the park at the same time as Vivo, Amy had gotten an almost blue hue to her skin. It was clear at this point that she was freezing solid. The girls movements were slow and sluggish, almost seeming as if she had needed to sleep for the past few days, being kept awake by something horrible. Looking somewhat sheepishly at Cheteria as the woman spoke, Amy was clearly a little drowzy as she replied to the comment about Vivo's stealthy approach: "I concur! Wardens are bad. We shall..." Cut off in the middle of her sentence, she stared at all the things Vivo seemed to be bringing alongside him. It was almost as if he was literally a walking campsite at this point in time. Simply staring at him in complete disbelief, Amy was so cold that she had stopped shivering at this point. Even then, her posture and way of carrying herself remained prideful. A strange creature she was. "I didn't know you were into camping... How practical... BUT! If you squash me in said pocket there will be a firey veng...--Fire? Fire sounds warm.. Mmmmh, warm." At first she had obviously wanted to warn Vivo about the consequenses of harming her, even if unintentional, but the thought of warmth and fire had taken priority in her train of thought. A few moments later, Amy started shrinking into her fairy form, landing in the palm of Vivo so he could position her properly. If the man had any warmth, it would feel as if he was holding a tiny fairy ice-cube. It seemed this sluggishness was the only reason why she was being so uncharacteristically cooperative.

[Kami-Gaz]

With the arrival of his captain and friend Vivo would stare at the pair blankly as Chete explained what he wanted from Amy, whilst being given a note pad… a note pad? Actually, this was probably the most useful thing he could have gotten at this point in time. With this he could talk all he wanted and not actually have to talk, which was a habit he fell into when he lost his hearing. Taking the note pad Vivo would quickly pull a pen from his pocket and start to scribble, once he finished he quickly flashed the note pad to Chete and laid it flat for her to read. Though it would prove hard to read moments later… Amy had finally decided to comply, turning into a small fairy that landed right over the message that he had written to the murderous cyborg.

‘Finally…’ Vivo thought as he carefully manoeuvred his free hand to gently pick up his tiny captain and move her to the inside pocket on his jacket, it was the warmest and safest place for her and form the looks of it she wouldn't have to stay there too long, because Chete was in some very warm looking clothes.

Turning his attention back to the menacing partner in his plan Vivo would smile as he looked back down to the note. “Alright Miss Akuvutika, I am going to present the guard with the note and the evidence that Amy is dead, once that is done he should let us in and give us a map to their base. If he says anything odd and I can’t see his lips nudge me and I will make sure he corrects his mistakes. Nod twice if you understand, and as soon as we are out of eye shot of the gate give the fairy your jumper or something.” It was fairly neat handwriting and easily readable at a distance, something a brute like Vivo should have trouble writing. He could only write so well because of how he used a sword, if he did not hit his mark then all of the energy he wasted on the swing would be for naught and he would be wide open to his enemies, he had to be precise and do it quick. Those skills seemed to be easily transferable to penmanship.

After holding his note out for a moment he would pull it back and slide the notepad down the back of his waistband, it seemed too big to fit in a standard pocket, and a shivering fairy was occupying the only one it could possibly fit in. ‘Okay, let’s get this done with, I don’t want to owe this sparkling dwarf my life any more.’ Vivo thought before walking towards the gate and out of the alleyway that he was hiding in with his small group, the cold breeze finally hit him again, but the suited man did not feel it, in fact, it felt quite refreshing to him to feel something gently brush against his skin.

Vivo had not even crossed the threshold into the entranceway when a spear was brought down in front of him to block his path, the swordsman's eyes followed the shaft to his left to see it’s owner leaning against the wall in a door way… he was talking… crap.

“King the park is closed today!” King? Was Vivo being called a king or something? No he must have missed a few words. “Oh, it’s you I was told to look out for you… Have you got the invitation and the gift?” The guardsman said as he gently tapped Vivo with the wooden shaft of the spear.

‘You are so dead when we come back out of this place…’ Vivo thought as his right hand delved into the exterior pocket of his suit jacket and pulled out a bloodied folded note and a small bag. The deaf man quickly pushed it forwards and let the guard peek inside the bag and then read the note he had. “One second, I’m going to make a call…” The guard turned away and opened his door to pick up a den den mushi, only his torso quickly hid a small one and it as he hunched over it. ‘Crap, Chete will have to keep her ears open for me…’ The swordsman thought as he just watched the doorway with his hawk like eyes.

“Yes Ma’am, it’s the one who doesn’t talk… he has a friend with him… no she doesn’t look like the girl who stole your fruit… Yes yes, he has the evidence… Okay… Mhm okay I will give him the map” The man would start muttering with slight pauses between each sentence, the person on the other end of the line was too quiet and muffled for anyone outside the office to make out. “I will give them the long way around, the note he gave me is soaked in her blood by the way, and it sparkles a bit… Yeah… okay if you say so.” The last words were followed by a loud Ca-chanking noise that the snail phone made.

“Right, you are good to go, the mistress will be happy to see you. Just follow this map and you will be there in 3 days” The scruffy guard said as he raised his spear with one hand and thrust the paper, the bag and the map back into Vivo’s with the other. ‘Well, they bought it… I think’

[Blaka]

Only after the little fairy had vanished inside the swordman's pocket did Kulira realise how her captain had looked. Weakened, a blue-ish tone to her skin, breathing heavily. Could it be that she was actually freezing? How on earth was a being like her affected by a little cold? It hadn't been that bad on Sedna Island. Granted, back then everything had likely been part of Amy's little game, tricking her subordinates into thinking they could stand up against her. But now, there was no reason to act like that anymore, was there? Unless this was another test. The moment this last possibility shot through Cheteria's head a cold shiver went through her. Even the thought of Amelia's vulnerability had had grave consequences last time around, quickly, she rid herself of such ideas.

Instead, she looked down on the note Vivo had written for her. Instead of quickly reading it though, her eyes got stuck at the first two words. 'Miss Akuvutika'? That was quite formal of the brute, who she even had offered to call her Lila, not something just anyone earned. Lila had been the name her flatmate Yoyamba back in Micqueot had called her. Yoyamba had been a dear friend to the runaway. From her, Lila had learned to play the guitar and lose herself in its music. Sure, Yoyamba had been strangled by her cyborg friend over something trivial, but that was beside the point. Vivo had chosen to ignore her offer just like that and that was a bit of a bummer. Reproachfully the blonde looked up from the note and stared at Mr. Segno - without actually saying anything though. If he didn't know that he had done something wrong, that was even worse. A reaction would obviously never happen, so she just continued reading instead of waiting for an answer. A 'thank you' would have been nice as well, but that was missing too. However, what the mute requested was clearly doable, so she nodded twice.

The guard didn't say anything out of the ordinary, so her services weren't needed until they stepped inside the park. The other side of the giant stone wall made those who stepped through the gate almost forget that there was still a civilized settlement here. The map at the entrance showed the different sections of the gigantic stretch of forestland. On here, there were also ten access points where one could resupply oneself with ammo and rations according to the infographic. How Vivo looked, with all the camping material and whatnot they likely weren't going to need those. Hunting animals was never Cheteria's thing either, they didn't show the same enjoyable reactions humans did. Likely because the concept of failure wasn't a thing for them, they were just trying to survive. Thus, no big game could express how degraded they felt before Chete would inevitably snap their necks.

Gladly, the guitarist got out of the ugly checkered jacket and gave it to Amelia once she would return to regular size. Instantly, the climate crept up on her, giving her goosebumps. Yet, this was a good chance to prove herself.
"Here you go, my Captain." she said without a hint of displeasure in her voice "I will try and improve my body so I can survive in this cold."

[Fluffy Lynx]

WORD COUNT: 650

TAGGED: @lynx

TAGGED:

Slinked into the pocket, the Captain was quickly surrounded by warmth, plus the somewhat fluffy-comfortable stuffings of the pockets insides. Almost immediately, the drowzyness of being frozen in the centre of something so warm, knocked the captain out as she nodded off to the side. Not a single sound came from the pocket, as the tiny fairy was getting a little rest. As the warmth seeped into her body anew, the girls breathing slowly returned to normal. It didn't take many minutes for her to heat up, since her frame was so incredibly small. It meant that she, while Vivo and Cheteria had their little encounter at the gate to the park, was peacefully away in a state of non-dreaming sleep. When they had safely passed through the gate, she started squirming about inside the pocket. Stretching her tiny body to its limits, she let out a soft yawn as she begun climbing up over the edge. Taking a small leap into the air, her frame quickly changed itself as she landed, gracefully, in the snow. They had only barely gotten far enough away from the gate that she wouldn't be noticed doing this, not that it was something she would've cared about if they had noticed. Being locked inside a pocket was, while comfortable and warm, inducing quite the sensation of claustrophobia. It made Amy question wheter all the pets she had, as a child, stuffed into her pockets, had thought they were about to meet their end.

"I am not going back into the pocket. At first I thought it might be fun, but it was not."

While Amy was somewhat distracted at complaining about Vivo's choice of strategy, Cheteria's jacket somewhat crammed itself into the girls hand. Stopping herself in the middle of what was absolutely going to be a rant about how noone was to degrade the captain of the dusk pirates, she instead tilted her head to the side to look directly at Cheteria. Then slowly her eyes lowered to take in the sight of the jacket. Slowly then the girls eyes rose back to meet Cheteria's. The pressure was there once again, as if Amy was peering through Cheteria's flesh and into her soul. As if Amy knew something. As quickly as it had been there, as quickly did it revert to a bright smile as the captain got a little more appropriately dressed. "While it certainly is the ugliest jacket I have ever laid eyes upon, the fact that you are starting to understand, that our survival, increases your own chances in life, pleases me."



Sniffing the air curiously, at least the jacket didn't smell half as horrible as it appeared. Idly scratching her cheek, she looked around for a moment to get an idea of what was going to happen next. Most of the area was absolutely sealed off, and there had been guards preventing access. They were walking directly into enemy territory, guns blazing. If Vivo had wanted to capture her a nd betray her, then surely there had been better options than letting the Fairy walk in there on her own two legs, so she had little doubt in her allies. They were deserving of some trust in regards to this endeavour. "By all means, Vivo. Lead the way. Remember the success of this endeavour is in your hands." Gesturing forwards, she had little reason to take the front at the moment. This was unknown territory to her, and she had placed her faith in Vivo executing this mission. Naturally, it didn't mean that Vivo would get everything the way he wanted it, he still had to accept that she was, ultimately, a step higher on the pecking order, but if she was there to command everything on her own, there'd be little evidence as to his future leadership skills.

[Kami-Gaz]

The fairy left Vivo’s pocket the second they got out of eyes sight of the main gate, after squirming up a storm and pushing some pens an notes into his chest and irritating him to some degree. Once she had managed to return to her human form and for her to start complaining again. ‘Such a brat.’ He thought as he watched her lips mouth words of complaint, she should have been happy he was not going to take her head off and drop her body at the pirates feet. The only reason that she was safe was because the girl saved his life once and he accidently killed her subordinate whilst trying to save hers. However, now he was escorting the bratty girl to her enemies so she could use him to exact her revenge in the pirates that had issued his initial hunt on the young lady.

As the complaining continued the swordsman in a suit would just move forwards, he did not want to pay attention to trivial things, as long as Amy paid attention to his plan he would be good. Every other step Vivo would look back to see what was going on, for a while Amy was just faffing about with Chete. However he did manage to catch the words “Remember the success of this endeavour is in your hands,” Those words made Vivo frown, they were used so much in his time as a marine that it sounded like no one had faith in his abilities. They seemed to sting him more after the loss of his hearing, it felt like everyone was trying to reassure themselves that he could do the job. ‘I’ve been doing this since you were crawling, I don’t need to remember how to do my job.’ He thought as he pushed on through the snow leaving a heavy trail of foot prints and the indentation of a sword dragging across the surface. The air was cold and the skies were clear as the dawn sun started to cover the white snow in a reddish hue.

The longer days of winter would mean that the walk to the pirate camp would only be one day, getting back though might mean pitching a tent though. That was not a bad prospect to the ex-marine who had slept in worse conditions whilst on his deployment as a killing machine. He had slept in places that no man should sleep in willingly; places that would make explorers question their dedication to find new lands. The days as a marine assassin did have its benefit, it helped Vivo to spot any threats and track multiple things at once with relative ease. One thing he had spotted as the group walked was a trail of rather large paw prints, the monster like wolves that roamed in this park were here recently. Luckily the wind was blowing towards them so their scent would not be picked up so easily. ‘Something is wrong, the pack is riled, the trails are slightly spread… we might run into some trouble.’ The swordsman thought before raising his hand and looking to Chete to convey the message.

A quick point to the groups right towards a tree that was poking out of the snow and besides it was the clear as day tracks. Moving his hand again, the silent swordsman pointed forwards and made a gesture to keep her eyes out. The fact that the prints were so large was the one thing that worried Vivo, a normal pack of wolves he could handle, wolves of that size would be an issue. He started to walk again moments later, stopping would make Amy freeze and waste day light and that was going to be a key factor in the coming fight.

As the sun rose into the air, the tracks of the wolf pack seemed to split and diverge. All probably to hunt individual targets for the rest of the pack, this was dangerous, any of them could come back and attack them. ‘Once we get ahead of the tracks then we are in the most danger… But this is the quickest way to the camp…’ Vivo thought as he kept walking forwards, his heavy footprints leaving a nice trail for the girls to follow, the sword which had its tip poking into the snow was leaving a fine groove which was being wiped clean by the harsh wind that was blowing. Then something strange happened, there was blood splatters on the wolfs trail. ‘They can’t of gotten a kill yet… Was there a fight I didn’t notice in the tracks?’ he asked himself before focusing his sights straight ahead to see a group of three very large, and very angry looking beasts that make a regular man look like a child.

“Oh shit.” He murmured as he watched the two bigger ones circle one that was between them, it was as if they were fighting over it, or fighting it, either way it was best to watch from a distance. Or so he thought, the more Vivo focused on the situation the more apparent that the wolf in the centre had a passenger, a smaller version of itself, a pup. The man leapt into action as he started to sprint into the situation and draw his sword, leaving the camping supplies for Chete and Amy to deal with. Vivo knew how it felt to lose a child and it was something that translated across species, if he could he would help this wolf.

SPOILER: Click to show

{Spoiler}
(So yeah Next post is Badassary and the acquisition of the monster puppy)

[Blaka]

Chete flinched from the look on her Captain's face when she handed her the jacket. Violet blue hues seemed to stab her where it hurt the most. Very likely because the fairy was thinking up her next move on how to mess with her favourite toy? Shivering, Kulira turned her eyes downwards at her own feet and lit herself a smoke before following Mr. Segno.

The long walk through the snow seemed even longer to the uncomfortable cyborg now. The jacket had done a good job at keeping the cold out, this silly striped jumper did next to nothing in that regard. Sure, the Dusk Pirate usually ran around with much less on her person usually, at least when going for the kill. Thus she did have to be able to survive in this freezing cold without protection. Shaky hands left a trail of ash behind the trio each time the guitarist had to tap the ash off her cig. Neither her nor the swordsman said a word, so Lila had all the time in the world to just take one step after the other and think. Usually her preffered state, it wasn't quite what she needed right now. Because what it mainly meant was: she had all the time in the world to think about and fear Amy's next plan for her. Last time the night really didn't go well and multiple crewmembers had to let their lives for Chete to gain respect again. Public humiliation seemed Amelia's specialty, so it would definetely not happen until they were back at the ship with everyone on it. Spending a day chained to the main mast was the best option among many unspeakable ones Cheteria feared right now.

Shaking her head, the blonde managed to distract herself. At least her plan was set in motion now. Whatever the buyer had requested they'd be able to gather within just a couple of days. Actually, now was as good a time as any to tell the fairy about said plan. Come to think of it, the look just there could have been just as easily for not telling her right away? Whatever the case, the shivering lass walked closer to her captain and started speaking:
"Sorry my Captain, I have failed to tell you about something earlier. When I was away buying you that jacket, I was caught in an enemy trap." Instantly she wanted to bite her tongue again. Caught in a trap? Hopefully that wouldn't be construed as being weak. "I found an operation of some sort of slaver ring. They were luring people in to supply their boss with wares from the streets. I managed to beat them and secure a deal for us. If we gather twenty people for them in the next two weeks, they'll come buy them from us. And from there we can become big names in the business." Before Miss Delacreux could respond, she hastily added "Not that you would need a bigger name, they agreed after I told them who I speak for. There was no time to consult you, so may I ask now? May I go ahead with this deal?"

Not long after the ladies' conversation, they arrived at the place where the two gigantic wolfs were circling a third, apparently hurt animal. Contradictory to Vivo, Miss Akuvutika didn't give much of a damn about any kind of living being, so she just stopped where she was while the mute brute was charging ahead. Against human opponent's her new toys could definetely do dangerous amounts of damage, but the swordsman was way better suited to battle enormous creatures like these ones.

Yet, luck would continue to let her down. A deep gnarling suddenly sounded behind the two women. Worse, as Kulira turned around to face it, two bellowing beats came rushing towards their position at full speed. More than a little surprised, Chete reflexively raised her metal fist to block whatever the first attack would be before the monsters could reach them. No attack in her arsenal that she wouldn't need in the later battle could stop a foe of this size. Moments later the hairy force leapt forward and crashed into the poor lass with both of its giant paws. Lila was ripped from the ground and hurled through the air like a lifeless doll, landing on the bag of camping equipment Vivo had left. Wheezing, she kept lying there for a couple of seconds. Her tailbone had hit something hard, a steel pole for the tent probably. However, the attacker was howling like a rabbid too. At the very last second the guitarist had managed to both let go of her case - and spit the remains of her burning hot cigarette at the hound's nose.

[Fluffy Lynx]

WORD COUNT: 1092

TAGGED: @lynx

TAGGED:

Simply following Vivo Segno forwards, she was far too distracted by other things and thoughts to really pay much attention to Cheteria. The first sentence she said was almost completely missed, aside from the fact that Cheteria was addressing her. As such, while Amy was inspecting her own nails to make sure they were in their top condition, the only initial response that was given was a soft. Mmmh? It was likely to come off as if Amy cared little for what Cheteria thought about, when instead, she was simply pre-occupied. Slowly raising her eyes to meet Cheteria's, the gaze was one that explained the situation rather well. You have my attention. Make it worth my time. Tilting her head slightly to the side, the aspirations of Cheteria couldn't bother Amelia any less. A majority of the people that walked this earth were complete scum. There were however going to be a small set of conditions if they were going to be having slaves aboard the ship. Conditions that Cheteria needed to be absolutely aware of. 
"I will allow your aspirations on a few conditions. First off, you will be the one taking charge of the slaves; Their warden. Any issues, errors or breaches will be placed entirely on your shoulders." Continuing to walk, she bit her lip as she considered how she wanted to phrase the next bit. "Secondly, slaves will not be granted rations or medical care from the general crew. It will be your duty to keep them fit and fed. Suffice to say, if we do keep slaves, I want them all to be top quality. To build a reputation that we have the wares. Discard the weak, the meek and the sick. They do not deserve to be slaves on my ship. Slaves or crew." This was important to her. When there were buyers involved, the better the quality the higher the price. Additionally, if word spread that the crew was holding high quality slaves, that would certainly assist in increasing the prices they could claim for their wares, potentially opening more luxorious deals for the future.
"Finally I want the slaves disciplined, their hearts broken. A slave with thoughts of rebellion is worth less than the rags they wear. Be efficient, merciless, cruel if you have to. If any slave dares raise a weapon against the crew, I will consider that blade raised by you. Needless to say what I do with traitors." From there, the girl lit up in an uncommonly spriteful smile, almost beaming. Amelia was a determined woman, who had no qualms about the measures taken to reach the top. Certainly, wealth like this could be instrumental in upgrading their ship and general equipment...

...It was about this time, just as Amy finished, that they had their encounter with the wolves. At first, she was prepared to order them all to ignore it and simply move on - it wasn't their fight to get involved in - but what she felt within Vivo was enough to keep her quiet. While the others wouldn't have had much chance to notice, Amelia certainly had. The strength difference between them was growing larger, and she hadn't displayed any strength for quite a while. It would only be a matter of time before there would be a conflict where she would have to display, or fall. Burying it in the back of her mind, she was certain to find a way to attain strength. Strength befitting of her situation. The others would bow to her, not only out of fear, but also out of respect. The iron-hand she had pretended to wield, would become reality, of that she was certain.
"...Deal with these mutts. I like not the alternative of being stalked by flea-bags all the way to our destination. Perhaps they can smell weakness?" Crossing her arms and simply standing there, watching as Vivo charged ahead, it was sheer fortune that caused the first attacking beast from behind to pick up Cheteria instead of Amelia. Turning around, the Fairy watched how one wolf was tumbling off with Cheteria...

...The last wolf then came face to face with Amy herself. The feeling that should've welled up within her was fear. Fear of losing face to her comrades, fear of being found out as nothing more than a fake. What she felt instead was unbridled, unmatched fury. A dumb flea-bag, expose a goddess as a fraud?! A simple creature that didn't understand just who it was standing in front of?! Absolutely not. Absolutely unforgiveable! Amy's breathing cooled down, her body tensing up, her breaths being taken in between her teeth, giving off an omnious sound. Slowing down, as he noticed the fairy unmoving, the wolf hesitated. That woman carried the sound and smell of someone prepared to take a life. The wolf was walking in a half circle, staring at Amelia, looking for a chance to pounce, looking for an opening, but found none. He was a big male, potentially the alpha of the pack, facing off against the alpha of the crew. Their eyes met, as they stared each other down. The girl felt something inside her. A strange, feint feeling that was barely there. The thought she had was extremely clear. Walk away, or I will end you. The wolf snarled at her, growling lowly, yet she gave no ground, showed no fear. To the others, it must've seemed like a strange standstill; A staring contest. The wolf circling back and forth, unable to come to terms with attacking. It seemed like he was waiting; Afraid of attacking Amy head on without the aid of his pack. He would wait, patiently, until the others had fallen. As a flock, surely this strange woman couldn't fend them off?...

Amy took a step forward, the wolf took a step back. The girl was fighting it off with her pressence alone. Naturally, the pressence was influenced by several factors. A hidden power that wouldn't be discovered till the far future, the devil fruit that gave the girl an odd vibe to most of nature, the other wolves struggling to bring down her comrades. It was natural, the wolf's instincts reacting, speaking to it of a dangerous foe. If the two others lost their fights however, the sheer increase in number would likely invigorate his spirits. Cheteria and Vivo though, they were unlikely to fall prey to simple wolves, right?