A Clash of Ideals, Act I - Ravens Regroup?

[Vio]

1

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“Yer aim’s a wee bit aff,” Ewan said.

“Mm, I know,” Marlus Caine responded, making subtle adjustments to his footing and grip. Dull violet locks coiled in the northerly breeze, fresh upon his face as shallow pools of fair green sharpened. The bowstring tensed as he drew back his arm, fingers balancing the notched arrow of ebon tail. Breathing steady, he led the target as it fluttered back and forth in its erratic descent from the trees above. Patience, he told himself. But alas, the man’s thoughts were nowhere near as focused as his body might have suggested. He lowered his bow, stripping the arrow from the string and stowing it within his quiver. The weapon hummed queerly.

^{“Could you do better?”}

^{“Me? Hell nae!”}

“What’s it like here, anyway? You never really explained what Pikt’s situation was,” the bowman in black addressed. The woodlands of the archipelago were quiet, the morn mild for the time of year, yet still decidedly chill. This was no Jreum, where vivid corals thrived in the warmer sea currents and subtropical winds kept the cold to a minimum. No, this was a series of islands regarded as rather harsh. Many questioned how such a place, nested so deep in the North Blue, could remain so lush all year round. Nobody really had an answer – Marlus was certainly no meteorologist. The natives attributed it to evolution, luck of the draw. Regardless, the sun was still low, creeping over the canopies.

^{“Well,” said Ewan Kincaid:
“Ah cannae say, really.”}

^{“Scale of one to ten…?”}

“Meh, Ah’d gie it a six. It’s nae ‘at bad, just a wee bit oan the tense side ay things,” was the answer. Marlus frowned. Ewan smiled and shook his head, standing up and giving the archer a pat on the shoulder – forceful enough to almost knock him off his feet. Taut coils of chestnut seemed to smoulder in the cresting rays, the world around them practically aflame as outcast deciduous trees shed the first of their rufous leaves for the approaching solstice. Kincaid, officer of the island network’s very own police force, turned and trekked back up the cobblestone path towards a quaint cottage. Surrounded by a thicket of trees on three sides, and by loch on the fourth, the humble lodgings were obscured from most passers-by. And yet, it was not all that far from Abundeen.

“Anyway, when yoo’re finished shootin’ dead leaves, ye should probably gie some breakfast down ye! Nae use warrin’ oan an empty stomach, Mar’s,” Mister Caine’s host harked. Kind of heart (yet not somebody you would ever want to cross), Ewan had offered a small family abode as a place of refuge for the wayward rebel and his immediate company. Whether or not Kenny was awake was yet to be seen, for the Ex-Marine had woken before sunrise and had thus not returned to the warmth of the thatched shack until now. Even then, he felt reluctant to approach the building, a resonant sense of being unwelcome festering within his heart.

It was a false feeling, but still lingered, and probably had more to do with the threat he posed to his friends than anything. Having been branded a wanted man by the World Navy, any bounty hunter or mercenary worth their weight could easily threaten others in order to get to him. Merle Tali and Kenny Bacon were just two souls that he did not want to feel the brunt of such things, but adding Ewan to the mix only made that feeling worse. Guilt, he labelled it, for an as of yet undealt crime.

“What do you mean, ‘Warring’, Ewan?” Marlus asked.

“Ah know how ye tick,” the freckled fighter said, opening the cottage’s wooden front door. The entrance was quite wide; low so as to force the both of them to duck as they entered, and yet rather obscure thanks to the clinging vines and thatch that surrounded it. The warmth of a small fireplace greeted the wanderer’s face and fingers almost immediately, though it might also have been due to the fact that there was a whopping great big bear curled up like a sleeping dog at one side of the room. Ewan continued, a bit less loudly this time around: “Ye dwell oan things tay much – ye leave the stew tae go cold befair ye tuck in! An’ here Ah thought bein’ a Marine would’ve got rid ay ‘at mind set, Mar’s. Anyway, yer lucky Ah’m on Abundeen run, else ye and yer friend could’ve wound up topsy in th’ loch!”

“Mm, we owe you, Ewan,” the violet-haired vigilante nodded, bitterly accepting the truths his comrade had spoken as he took a seat at the relatively small table. The cottage had no separate kitchen, lounge and dining room – it was all one. Admittedly, it was also a lot bigger than the outside made it look, even if three men and a bear made it a bit on the cosy side. He grimaced slightly, unable to settle his mind against the worries he had for Kenny and, somewhat more importantly, Merle…

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SPOILER: Click to show

{OOC}

in the picture. I also took some liberties on the title!

Flame, Kami-Gaz

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Starring…

_{Marlus Caine (3b003b)
Ewan Kincaid (954535)}

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[Flame]

It came in streaks of red liquid, gliding down her slim form. It slid in between the space between her skin and her bra, curving with her own curves as gravity pulled it down. With a flick of her hand bullets of blood crashed into the rocks below her feet. Splattering upon them they left small dents, leaving the small drops of blood like rain to stain the stone's surface. "Mmmm, should've cooked it." She mused to herself. She was perfectly fine eating the raw meat her body was used to it. But the flavor was not the best. She probably could've seasoned it, or smoked it or something, or cooked it with a simple marinade, she had the necessary ingredients to do it, probably.

Swinging her legs out she hopped off of the slab she had been sitting upon moments ago. Landing, a foot stepped onto a pool of blood and slipped. Her balance flew out from under her and her second foot lost it as well. Both feet now popped into the air and her butt dropped down onto a rocky surface. "Oww!" Merle yelped. Waiting a moment she took in what had just happened. And that yelp changed into a giggle. A perfect giggle that grew into a laugh. Sitting there upon the cold surface of that stone atoll in the middle of a lake she laughed.

Hard and vigorously, she belched out her laughter until it pained her in her diaphragm. Then grasping her chest with two bloody hands she held herself for a moment. It felt good to laugh, it felt like it had been a little while. A long while, perhaps since she had laughed so purely. The smile smudged as she thought of why, pictures and white and purple haired men made momentary appearances in her head and she felt her blood boil. Her hands clenched into fists, her teeth pressed down into each other grinding against their opposites. Adrenaline coursed through her blood and she rose once again.

Winding up she slammed her foot into the carcass of the seal that she had been eating moments ago. Blood coated her foot as she lifted the body off the ground and sent it flying into the lake. She watched it as it drifted through the air, taking a deep breath as she did. She held it until with a soft splash, it crashed into the water sinking as soon as it landed. The crimson stain of blood was the only marker of where it had landed after a few moments. And she let out the air, blowing it out slowly and surely before she took a breath once again.

Her boiling blood cooled off, the veins that had nearly been popping out of her relaxed and her body with it. The tenseness that had been visible seconds ago dissipated like water on a heated pan. Merle glanced over herself once more and shook her head back and forth. Red stains were drawn in streams across her body radiating from her face. A cold wind drew across her, caking the blood onto her and she frowned slightly. "I should really wash this off." She spoke to herself.

Bending down slightly she mustered the best smile she could. It wasn't great, it wasn't a full bodied smile like she used to have, but it was one. Pressing her leg into the rock behind her she launched herself forward. Sprinting down the rock she tilted her body forward almost ready to dive off it. As she charged by, her arms reached out and grabbed the harpoon and then her bag of materials. Making it to the edge of the rocky outcrop rising above the water she threw her bag of materials into the water ahead of her and dived in after it.

Her body slid into the water with barely a splash. As soon as she was fully in she stopped herself in the water. Reaching upwards she plucked her sack from where it sat upon the surface of the water. Pulling it down, she allowed the air in it to be expelled. Guess I should keep going Merle breathed in water and glanced around. Remembering the map of where she had been, ever since she had been pulled into this maze of rivers and lakes she'd been just swimming about.

I guess that's the next path. Merle looked east through the waters. Twisting in the water she began to kick once again. Her streamlined body gliding through the water and accelerating forward. All she needed to do was find the current that had pulled her into this lake and where it continued onward. That should take her to the seas once again.

SPOILER: Click to show

I'll probably enter Loch Merrow next round. I just needed a post to setup where Merle is character-wise and location-wise.

[Kami-Gaz]

It had been a long few days, first the events of Sedna island and then upon arrival to this ‘fair land’ the group had split up and the remaining pair were practically immediately set upon by a bounty hunting bunch wanting to snag Marlus Caine. It was lucky that the pair happened to be saved by the savage bear cavalry, the local police force, otherwise they would either be hogtied in some ships brig, in marine hands, or dead. All thoughts Kenny would shake out of his head every time the topic came up. The Ashen haired man had spent more time awake and pondering than sleeping since the rescue. He only managed to get some shut eye as the night started to wain. 

He Awoke again to find a burly bear curled up next to him on the floor. With a slight jolt, the tattooed man would sit up and look around to remember the predicament that he was in with Marlus, the man that helped him get to where he is now, and who he felt he owed some sort of gratitude too, since taking him away from Sedna, helping him get closer to his goal and having the contacts that saved both of their asses. After a quick look around Kenny could easily tell that Marl and the burly bear rider were gone… hunting? Getting some morning air? Kenny didn’t know and he didn’t want to sit wallowing in bad thoughts, so he picked himself up and headed around the back of the cottage in the morning light.

“I’m getting better at changing shape… i just need to think of some more creative uses...” He muttered to himself as he tiptoed around the bears slumbering form. A fairly easy task, seeing as his footsteps were light and all he was carrying was his family heirloom weapon. After that was done all the painter only had to slip through the unlocked door. The morning air was crisp and jarring to the Zarzarran native, his naturally desert acclimated body quickly shivered and shook with the sudden cold. The fact the weasel fruit power that he now possessed made him far more sensitive to the cold than he would like.

“Paint on a frog this is cold!” He grumbled before jogging around the building to try and warm up, unsheathing his sword the man would start doing some strikes in the air, he was practising. With each strike the blade would hum and the low morning mist would ripple slightly, one thing was for sure, the devil fruit he had eaten had given the man’s natural human body a boost, it felt stronger. With a slight sigh Kenny would increase the speed of his general strikes, he was not using a great amount of force, his technique was not bound to strength it was to speed and precision. 

“Canvas Cutter. Red Brushwork. Canvas Cutter.” Words he uttered as he remembered techniques that had never failed him in combat so far. He had moved to an old tree stump and was hacking away at it, leaving deep grooves and cuts that left no mark on his weapon, they were quick, clean and over before anyone who was watching knew it.

Somewhere along the exercise the man had shifted into his hybrid form, a mix of man and weasel. With a scowl on his face he would let out a rather annoyed sigh before turning to walk back to the cottage. When he opened the door to walk in the man would focus on being human again and he quickly shrunk down into a more normal form. “Mm, we owe you, Ewan,” Whata time to walk in…

“We do!” Kenny added as he closed the door behind himself and placed his weapon on a counter by the door. “But what do we do now? We don’t exactly have a plan anymore.” The painter pirate noted as he sat at the table opposite Marlus, letting his yellow hues scan around the room. In truth Kenny had no idea of the situation on this island, he did not know its peoples, nor did he know it’s factions… all he did know was that there were bounty hunters after his one friend's head… was Marlus a friend? Apart from travelling together and helping each other out the two had not really bonded. “What do we do now then?” He asked, it was an open question that anyone in the room could answer.

[Vio]

2

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“We do! But what do we do now?” said Kenny Bacon, the painter having entered the cottage at some point in his company’s wake. Marlus Caine, somewhat startled, turned to face the young man with a head of wild, snowy hair. Decently handsome, healthy complexion, though a little tired of eye. The Zoan user was a familiar sight now – one could argue it was as if he belonged. Strange as he was, this single soul had done the unthinkable. Not without aid, of course, but he had the gall and strength of spirit to do the right thing on the way to reaching his own goals. Nonetheless, he was an odd one.

^{“Good question,” the bowman mulled:
“I’m not sure I have an answer, though…”}

“There ye go again, Mar’s,” Ewan guffawed, lightly clanging pots and pans as he arranged some semblance of a meal. Some sort of stew, given that Mister Kincaid had never exactly been a man of culinary expertise. Not to say he could not cook a good meal, but the day they invented a way to preserve a meal and cook it in a matter of minutes would be the day the cavalier praised most. Swinging a ladle about like a conductor’s baton, he continued: “Nae e’en gonnae give th’ laddie a greetin’? Top ay th’ morn tae ye! …That soonds weirder than it did in mah head…”

A loud, rumbly yawn filled the lodgings. The bear had stirred, somewhat.

^{“And a top ay th’ morn tae ye, too, Boris!”}

^{“He likes your stew?”}

“Nae, nae th’ stew. He’s an addict fur boiled tatties, skins an’ aw! Reit, anythin’ ye troops don’t like, spick noo or its gonnae be goin’ in!” Ewan spoke up, having gathered a veritable cocktail of leftover meat cuts and spare vegetables. A quick scan of the kitchen area by a pair of hawkish green hues revealed to Marlus that there was no threat of fish being mixed into the broth, though he was not too sure his stomach would agree with anything else available, for that matter. It took quite the gut to be able to do what the Bear Cavalry’s officers did, but never had the ex-Marine considered that his friend’s cast iron constitution extended this far. Somewhat cautiously, he looked to Kenny, quizzical…

^-~-

^{Blub– Blub– Blub– Whoosh…}

Dark silhouettes darted swiftly through the icy jade, twisting and coiling in and out of vision. The morning sun’s invigorating cascade of warming amber barely reached the forest floor of the Pikt Archipelago, let alone the depths of its unfathomable network of waterways. Lochs and brooklets seemed to babble, reactive to the commotions going on about the isles. Nothing seemed immediately out of the ordinary, but then nothing ever did in this corner of the globe. You had to look closed, much closer, in order to perceive the hidden realities. One such mysterious truth was beginning to regret getting out of bed this morning.

^{“Uuuuugh… Now where did they bugger off to?”}

^{Blub– Blub–}

The waters gargled mellifluously in the ear; forming gentle eddies of chilling lake brine that caressed the skin. A human body just could not tolerate such drastic fluctuations in warmth and pressure, but the ghostly serpent’s own flesh remained unfazed, undeterred. Sure, she would give her tail fin just to be able to lounge about in calm, crystal, tropical tides all day. Alas Viktoria was not the type to walk – more precisely, swim away from those who were so dependent upon her presence in Piktish waters. Loch Merrow was her home now, had been for some time, and she served a strange job as a matriarch of sorts.

‘Did you see which way they went?’ she asked, enquiring to a passing trout.

^{‘… … …’}

^{‘They’ve gone up? Tch! Really…?’}

‘…,’ the fish bobbed its head, ‘… … …!’

^{‘Right,’ Viktoria replied:
‘Cheers Fry.’}

With a vicious flick of her tail, the Mermaid began to ascend from the briny depths of her chill sanctuary and towards the fairer, slightly warmer upper reaches of the Loch. The sunlight was beginning to break through now, creating a rainbow of oranges and pinks, blues and greens amidst a many-levelled canvas of murky crystal. A few yards up and she already chose to slow her pace, lest the wake of her coiling length gave away her position to anybody untoward…

^-~-

“There’s plenty tae dae if ye bide here oan Pikt, ye know? But, Ah have an inklin’ ‘at that’s nae yer style, eh?” Ewan said, serving out a few bowls of steaming stew. While there was no better way to get rid of excess ingredients, offcuts of meat and the like than throwing it all together in such a fashion, Mister Caine was beginning to have second thoughts about life choices. Hospitality, of course, had to be accepted. Courtesy prevailed like a blustery trade wind, though a need for something easy to digest was also calling to his appetite. A steamy stew was a good fix. Somehow, and by means that the wanderer was not about to question, Boris the bear had perched himself upon a low stool and was crunching on some boiled potatoes smothered in gravy. For a fierce beast, he seemed quite content and comfortable.

^“Hmm…”

^{“Ah meant Kenny,” the officer continued:
“Ye dragged him with ye, isn’t that reit…?”}

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SPOILER: Click to show

{OOC}

while Ewan talks to Kenny and Marlus.

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Starring…

_{Marlus Caine (3b003b)
Ewan Kincaid (954535)
Viktoria (383124)
Trout (111111)
Kenny Bacon (1e0053)}

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[Flame]

A solid kick sent her gliding along gracefully. Passing through the largely still water she was ever vigilant for the feeling of the currents that carried through this lake into the next. It was a short while before she caught wind of it. That pull which seemed excessively minor finally grasped upon her skin noticeably enough. Drawing in water through her gills she took a full breath perked up slightly from finding it.

Another fluttering of the feet followed as she drove herself through the water. Throw her arms in front of her she made a great pull with them increasing her speed once more. Now moving at a slightly more than casual pace she felt what must've been the main body of the current engulf her. Faster waters pressed in behind her pushing her forward with gusto. It carried her on through the loch. Her own effort lessened vastly by the aid of the underwater river, she allowed herself to float along with it only adding her own propulsion on occasion.

From within it Merle scanned the rising loch floor beneath her. As she continued to slide through the waters she noted the walls of earth rising up on either side of her. The bed of sand and stone below her rose upwards forcing her up as well. It took a little while but in a short time she noted that she was certainly travelling in a river now rather than the lake. Rising above the waves she drew her head above water, her drably blue hair matted down as the cool air rushed over her. On either side of her she became suddenly aware of mountains, or at the least giant hills rising up on either side of her. The river cut through this valley heading ever onward and downward given its cantankerous force.

Drawn by the river, Merle enjoyed the rampant journey downstream following the river as it cut through mountainous terrain. Her head bobbed up and down taking chances to peer about the moving scenery. Keeping track of what was going on about her as she continued in her she took her moments to enjoy the view and just relax in the water. It had been a while since she had so much time swimming so freely. As it flowed around a bend of a rocky outcropping she found that suddenly the river widened. Expanding into a larger loch than those she had been in before she scanned the horizon. Shadows on the skyline above the horizon were likely mountains across the way.

Sunlight danced upon the water's surface as she glanced about. In wide beautiful rainbows it exuded beauty upon the lake. She smiled, it seemed a nice lake, though still not her final destination. For as much as she could tell it was still for the most part hemmed in by land. Diving beneath the water once more her eyed delved into the depths. Stray schools of fish aside, she saw not much as the floor of the earth fell out into the darkness of the deep waters. Can't hurt to do some exploring, it was a long ride to this loch from the last. There's no hurry anyways ... She paused regretfully over that last thought. With a few well placed kicks she set herself gliding into the vastness of it.

Her eyes pierced through the waters as she looked about. Most important right now was finding food again, she hadn't paid the thought much attention upon the river but now the thought came back to her. On top of that she wondered if she might meet someone here. A hopeless ask for certain, but she preferred company as a rule. So it was a fool's hope that she maintained for it. Who would even live here, apart from the fish of course.

She blinked, upon thinking that she had noted something moving fast in the distance under the waves. It must've been her imagination she was certain, her mind playing tricks on her. But then she wondered, what could the hurt be to chase after. It was quite far away, worst comes to worse she never tracked down what it was or it was her imagination. She laughed, wondering where these troubled thoughts had come from for only a moment. Shrugging to herself she took off in the direction she had seen the movement. The fool's hope kindled again.

SPOILER: Click to show

Could just be a fish, could be Viktoria, iwas thinking it might be interesting if it were a group of the fishmen. Might be interesting for her to meet them first, dunno playing this by ear.