Wanted Savior

[Mr. Moon]

Jan #1

Shimoshiki Island, a seemingly small and unimportant piece of land in the middle of East Blue, that lately gained some level of notoriety as the home island of the infamous Pirate Hunter Zoro of the Straw Hat Pirates. Yet, while the story of this man was really fascinating, he wasn´t the reason Jan visited this place. The thing that got him there happened more recently. A fight between his boss Gabriel and some Marines took place in one of the coastal towns, and from what he heard while listening to the whispers among other M.A.R.I. members it was really big, so the writer packed his things and headed there, hoping for some first-hand testimonies and hopefully an inspiration for his upcoming book. And so far he wasn´t disappointed.
“Wow, just look at that, can you imagine all of this was caused by a brawl between just a few people?”
He whispered with nearly religious reverence, towards the female cheetah that was standing next to him on the deck of their small boat, which was slowly heading towards the port, or at least what was left of it, because frankly, there wasn´t much. The main pier was gone, replaced by a much smaller makeshift version, buildings around the port were destroyed as if hit by some gargantuan fist and two small sailboats were lying on dry land among the wreckage, heavily damaged.
“Meow…”
Lin tried to imitate the natural language of these felines, poking him with her wet nose.
“Hmmm?”
Confused, the writer looked first at her, then followed her look towards the thing that picked up her interest small, but well-armed ship, that was anchored near the makeshift pier.
“Yeah…that looks like trouble, but who knows perhaps they are mercenaries hired by some local people for protection? I mean it´s not like we can turn back now, right? We are already out of food!”
His laughter came at the cost of an annoyed feline gently biting his hand.

[slyfan01]

Shimotsuki village was also currently where up and coming bounty hunter, Morgan Easton, was resting her heels. Truth is she had little interest in the village or the style of sword they seemed to favor. But her map and her compass has her at this location. The former acrobat was on a trail of another bounty. As her boots carried her through the town, she had her nose in a map.

"Why waste time in this place?" She wondered aloud as she waked, barely concerned with her surroundings. "Strange swords, backwater location, the only reason anyone would even come here is because of that pirate...some kind of fan of his perhaps?"

[Mr. Moon]

Jan #2

The writer didn´t even flinch when her sharp teeth poked into his hand as the freakish body he inherited from his father was more than tough enough to protect him from such a playful gesture.
“Yeah, yeah I know it´s my fault.”
He grinned, scratching that spotted feline behind her ear. She was giving him judgemental look for another moment or two but then released his hand.
“Well then, guess I won´t convince you to go out in human form for once, right?”
He asked, already knowing the answer.
“Meow.”
Said Lin, lying down near to his legs.
“Yeah, I thought so…”
The young writer sighed, slowly guiding their small ship towards the port.
Fifteen minutes later, they disembarked. Jan was a tall, athletic-looking man with a handsome face and wild black hair, wearing what appeared to be trousers from a rather expensive suit, formal shoes, and a white shirt, that had only the lower half of the buttons actually buttoned. Next to him was cheetah, a slender, spotted feline, that was walking with breathtaking grace.
The strange duo made it through the pier when they were suddenly stopped by two armed men who were equipped by some strange silver badge, that probably should make them look more official and not like filthy pirates as the rest of their visage suggested.
“Halt! In the name of lord Dior identify yourself and state your business!”
Tilting his head to the side, Jan looked past that man´s shoulder on a large castle that was standing on a hill behind the town.
“I don´t remember lord Dior being the ruler of this island.
He muttered half for himself as if he was lost in his thoughts.
“He is not.”
The pirate growled.
“But after the incident that happened here he decided that additional protection is needed…for the safety of the towns folk.”
His laughter made it clear to Jan, that safety of the townsfolk wasn´t even on the list of their priorities.

[slyfan01]

Morgan heard some talking from nearby. Given how boring this island turned out to be, it was worth examining. Heck, perhaps whatever going on could get her a reward enough to charter a ship out to another island. At least a good meal. She took off running towards the sound.

Sure enough, pirates where seeming to try to extort an individual. A fairly fancy looking man with a lithe cat right by his side. She got a little giddy. At this point in her career, bounty hunting was still fun. Exciting. A rush. It didn't seem to many where down there, surely enough she could handle on her own.

"Hey, sea scum." Morgan said drawing attention of the group, ranging from the pirates to the man and the cheetah. "I'm not a native to this island, but I'm guessing some new guy getting approached by a couple of obvious pirates isn't exactly a local custom. So, how about you shove whatever scam you're running, leave him alone, and I don't have to waste my energy kicking your butts back into the ocean?"

[Mr. Moon]

Jan #2

With a sigh, the writer reached into the inner pocket of his jacket to pull out his documents, to make this as official as possible. After all, his goal wasn´t fighting with some random group of pirates, but to create a story about what happened in that town during Gabriel´s showdown with the Marines.
“Probably better to add a little bribe too…”
He thought for himself, but then out of nowhere, things went south pretty quickly as a woman in her early thirties appeared out of nowhere, accusing these guys of trying to scam the two travelers, while adding a few threats for good measure.
“Oh boy…”
The writer muttered to himself, taking a short step back to make it very obvious that he has nothing to do with that woman and don´t wish to be dragged into this.
“What the f*ck did you just say, lady?”
One of these pirates asked, turning around with a hand on the handle of a long and dangerously looking knife.
“Listen I don t know what´s going on in that head of yours, but see this?”
He pointed towards a small silver badge attached to his shirt.
“That´s a bl*ody badge given to me by the f*cking lord Dior himself. See that castle!?”
He pointed towards the nearby hill.
“That´s where you can find him, now since you obviously entered this island illegally, we have to identify you and give you a fine for that illegal entry…10 000 Beli will do just fine.”
The pirate showed his missing teeth with a wide grin.
Standing behind him, Jan rolled his eyes. These guys were really terrible, but judging by their ship, they had around 20, maybe 30 friends in the town and captain, probably wanted one if someone like Dior decided to hire him based on his reputation.

[slyfan01]

"What couldn't make out what I said? Let me make it simpler this time." Morgan snarked drawing out her sword to add to her point. "Cut the scam and leave the man alone."

Morgan wasn't sure if her desire to be the hero, to strike back against pirates had gotten her in more trouble than it was worth, but truth was the bounty hunter wasn't even thinking of it.

"And thanks for given me the location of your boss. If he's hiring the likes of you, gotta have some kind of bounty on his head. And here I thought this island was gonna be a waste for me."