Mission # 47: The Dragon Slayer (Invite only)

[Terminally Chill]

As elevation increased, so did the intensity and amount of snow that the four unlikely allies were encountering. And while Jun may have been equipped with the correct clothes to face the treacherous Shivre Mountain weather, Gavin was under-dressed for the occasional, as was customary. Shivering as flecks of the white, powdery substance stuck against the bare skin of his arms, Gavin could feel the uncomfortable numbness in his sparsely covered feet begin to creep up. At least the musician could count himself lucky that he was able to walk in the path Jun was carving in the white layer instead of having to brave the snow on his own. All of this seemed irrelevant to the scribe himself, as he turned to explain the previous pun to Gavin, irked by his musically-inclined comrade's lack of understanding.

“You know what? It wasn't very good anyways.”

Blinking a few times after Jun decided to forgo explaining the wordplay to simply shoot his own pun down, Gavin replied in agreement with Jun. The troubadour was not attempting to be rude, as evidenced by the painfully plain tone he spoke to his friend in.

“You're right, man, it wasn't very good.”

While Jun and Gavin had their discussion on the finer points of grammar, it seemed one more person had joined their venture to Shivre's summit. The newest arrival to the journey was the rough looking man from before who had been thrown through the building by the man with the baseball cap. It seemed the two lunatics had resolved their conflict for the time being. While they seemed civil, they continued to trade barbs as the group traveled deeper into the blizzard. Being able to see if Jack and Jay could keep from ripping each others' heads off along the way would surely be an interesting spectacle. Gavin was not exactly interested in what either of them were saying, staring ahead dully as flecks of white continued to swirl past the rag-tag team.

"So what's the story with you two climbing this mountain...?"

Gavin now turned his head back, raising a quizzical eyebrow toward the pair. He was actually interested in hearing their answer. After all, the guitarist had only come along on the trek to the top of the mountain because he felt obligated to. Why someone, besides the story-crazed Jun, would willingly climb a mountain was beyond him.

[BEX]

He heard the emotionless musicians question, but he was a bit irritated that these artisans seemed to carry a rather snobbish attitude; something that he had seen in the rich and wealthy all too much in Saint Reia. In fact there was a compelling argument to just lay waste to both of them now seeing as how in combat strength they couldn’t have offered much by way of fighting. The cold bit into his caramel skin raising small goosebumps on his forearms and shins. Growling as he pressed onwards he felt as the feeling slowly seeped out of his feet so he decided that perhaps talking would take his mind off the annoying circumstances,

“All I wanna know is if there are some bada*s bandits up there” he answered after a long while of silence between the group.

He could hear the crunch of the younger Masaru brother’s footsteps in the snow behind him,

“…and if there do happen to be bandits…I’m gonna kill ‘em all and take their loot” he finished with a grin that lasted only a second as fierce wind nearly blew him over.

Whirling his arms at his sides to keep his balance Jack finally regained a foothold and shot an evil look up at the two artisans to see if either of them reacted in a dis satisfactory manner to his averted mishap. If they pissed him off anymore than their presence already did, Jack knew he wouldn’t hesitate to kill them,

“F*ckin’ pansies… he thought to himself.

[Masta Deltron]

After hearing Jacks response to the musicians question he chuckled. “Well I was in the area, when I heard word of some bandits causing some issues to innocent people. So I figured they needed to be taught a lesson.” He explained. He continued to follow the three up the mountain, crunching the snow as he made each step. Jay was sure to be careful of Jack, he believe that Jack had no sense of Honor. He was just in it for the prize, whether or not if the people were safe did not matter to him. A cold breeze whirled by and almost knocked Jack over. Jay laughed out, “Better watch it Jack, you don’t want to take a fall down the mountain.” He said with a slight smile.

He tightened the straps on his weapons pack as he began to pick up the pace. Something was coming, because then wind changed too suddenly. “Well guys we better pick this up. Something big is coming this way he said calmly.” Jay felt something that was brewing, it was most likely a blizzard, or the local wild wife was on the move. Either way they needed to get to a level ground before things got rocky. They came closer to an open area that had a cave entrance on the other side. “Hmm guys, I think we may be here.”

[Tsin]

((OOC: Whenever we speak of this RP in the future, think of this poem:

Jack and Jay went up a way to fetch a chunk of loot.
Jun and friend, a hand they'd lend, and those bandits they got the boot.))

The biting wind that was constantly trying to devour the four inpromptu mountain climbers continued not to effect Jun's mood in the slightest, his expression staying focused upon his two new temporary comrades as they spoke of their reasoning behind this trek. Money was apparently the goal for the more violent and noticably less social of the two, something that the writer couldn't fault him for even if he had wanted to. It was a substance that did indeed make the world go 'round, and something he was forced to follow on more than one occasion as well...

... Something Gavin seemed in dire need of himself, in fact! Although Jack did not seem the type who could be convinced to share, no matter how tiny the amount. Jun stashed that thought away for later; perhaps he would be a bit more friendly after having dished out some small amount of ass kicking.

On the other hand, the more friendly of the two definitely continued to play the part, with nothing but the prospect of righteous justice fueling his body to brave the elements, pushing through harsh conditions only to help the innocent townsfolk below and tell those no-good evil doers above what for. It was refreshing to see that such people, who some would think only existed in storybooks and legends, actually walked about in this present pirate-filled age, fighting the good fight. The scribe almost wanted to pull his notebook from his pack and immediately begin writing down impressions and ideas about such a virtuous 'main character' type... But the snow, it would probably ruin the pages.

So instead, Jun simple settled on a nod and a sigh. Regardless of either of their reasons, Jack and Jay's stories both involved a common denominator; that is to say, Bandits. And that would mean that the top of the mountain had no other stories to tell probably: No ice dragons or abominable snowmen, ice princesses or snow fairies, hundred of legendary possibilities and mythical avenues shattered to pieces like the frozen landscape the four currently traversed...

... Well, at least there'd be somebody to take his frustrations out on.

"So just bandits huh..." Although the scribe himself did not do very much physically, aside from pull the sizable glaive-like weapon from its safe position on his back, the young man's entire aura seemed to morph. Who was once a mild-mannered writer had turned into somebody exuding a vague atmosphere of threat, smile drifting away on the latest blast of wind like the snow it carried. Even the cave everybody came face to face with across a distance did nothing to dispel that feeling... Although the smile returned. A little bit more of a smirk or grin this time though.

"Hmm guys, I think we may be here."

"I hope somebody has a light in their pack... Groping our way through a cavern sounds less than ideal."

[Terminally Chill]

As the journey to the summit continued, the sow and icy mind continued to make their presence further known to the rag-tag expedition group. With each footprint that was placed into the crunchy white substance, further information was revealed about the motives of the two accompanying pirates. Despite their apparent shared love for a good brawl, their reasons for making the dangerous trek were far from similar. The rougher and less social of the two made it clear that violence and money were among his priorities for the trip, while the man in the baseball cap brought with him a sense of justice and honor in the way that he wished to dispatch of the bandits for their wrongdoing.

Gavin, on the other hand, did not pay them much attention. Looking to the dull, gray sky with his jade-colored orbs, the musician had his head tilted back and resting on his conjoined hands. Tongue sticking out, Gavin allowed the masses of falling snowflakes land and dissolve on his tongue. With each stride, a light jangle was audible from the numerous bracelets adorning his wrists. Needless to say, the seemingly endless trudging was less than thrilling to him. This amount of effort being exerted by the sleepy musician was unprecedented. Along with being terribly bored, there was a creeping feeling that continued to nag at him from the back of his mind. Finally, it seemed the suspicion was beginning to take prominence in the minstrel's cloudy mind.

Tilting his head downward, Gavin scanned the area briefly with narrowed eyes, as if searching for a particular object. However, one would be hard pressed to find anything but a curtain of white. But still the musician continued to search, a weariness evident in his eyes. As the four reached the rocky terrain, Gavin stretched a lanky arm out, poking Jun square in the back of the head in order to get the scribe's attention.

“Hey Jun, do you ever get the feeling you've been somewhere before, man?”

However, it seemed the discovery of the cave ahead of them seemed to take precedent over Gavin's growing paranoia of his surroundings.

"Hmm guys, I think we may be here."

Blinking a few times at the gaping maw of the cave, Gavin removed his ragged top-hat and scratched the scalp hidden beneath his mop of dark, shaggy hair. A slight frown was evident on his face as he studied the darkness into which they were surely about to descent.

“Aw, man. It had to be a cave... What a pain, man,” the musician glumly thought.

"I hope somebody has a light in their pack... Groping our way through a cavern sounds less than ideal."

The pen-wielding warrior certainly brought up a valid point. Not only was it a cave, which sucked to begin with, but it was a cave they would potentially have to stumble through blindly. With a quizzical eyebrow, Gavin turned to Jay and Jack, the troubadour's question of “so you guys have a light, right?” etched into his face.

[BEX]

Finally after a grievous effort of climbing the shivering mountain the rag tag group of crusaders had finally managed to subdue the ever present feeling of hypothermic limbs to reach the top of the mountain. Once they reached the top of the mountain it quickly became apparent that there choice had been narrowed down to only entrance of a suspicious cave, but eager to remove his feet from the layer of snow Jack stepped forth to peer into the impenetrable darkness. It wasn’t until he returned his focus to those around him that he heard the writer’s suggestion or rehteoric statement of the two pirates having a light which Jack didn’t have, but at the same token did not need. Just as he opened his mouth to explain why the exploration of the cave wouldn’t be a hassle, the troubadour opened his mouth and what seemed to be a haughty remark spilled from his mouth. Silence ensued as Jack slowly turned his head once in the direction of Jay Masaru trying to make eye contact, but giving up quickly as he turned his head back to the musician to shot a withering glare at the musician. The manner which the musician spoke to him was starting to grind away at what little nerves he had left, but Jack maintained his peace as he somberly walked past both the writer and musician,

“As I was saying, it shan’t be too hard fer us to get through the cave…I have sonar capabilities” he explained while taking the front row of the group; he hated being in a position to do the right thing and it seemed as if he were going to end up doing it.

Not waiting for any other comments from any of the travelers he stepped lightly into the patch of snow leading to the cave and tapped a few times to make sure that it was indeed prepared for the next step. After talking ten steps, Jack’s foot sunk into a bank of snow and immediately the shock of the cold sensation shooting up his abdomen ending where his brain passed on a message to his head reminding him of the horrible time he had attempted to eat 300 ice cream sandwiches only to have himself feeling cold as well as sec that day.

[Masta Deltron]

Jay snickered a little bit, “what are you supposed to be a bat?” he said in a joking manner. He grabbed his gauntlet out of his bag. He placed it on his hand, he began to snap his finger. A spark seemed to come from the flint and steel. Then the gauntlet began to burn brightly, creating a torch in a way. “You asked for it and I delivered.” He said with a smile. This in a way was to one up Jack, the sonar thing was kind of wacky.

He raised his hand into the air to illuminate the area. Bats and bugs seemed to scatter at the light that now shined. He walked passed the three to lead the way. “Excuse me Jack but I got a light.” He said walking past him. He walked further down the cave while looking around the area.

It did not seem anything was out of the ordinary, things were going pretty smoothly. A little bit too smoothly. Jay heard a cracking noise as he stepped down on something that seemed to moved. It was a trap that was activated by a stepping block. The path that they were on shook for a moment. “Move! It’s a trap!” he yelled as he jumped forward. Soon after the floor would give away into a spiked pit below.

[Tsin]

Sonar capabilites were well and good for the person with them, but they were all but useless to the rest of the gathered group. There was of course some possibility of trying to follow Jack and his voice in the inky darkness of the cavern's innards as he, undoubtedly, barked them out to everybody else in his best drill sergeant tone of voice, but Jun had to admit there was limited appeal to such a situation. Not that he thought that the rather violent comrade to lead him into some sort of trap or anything, but... well, trickster he might not have been, but considerate he definitely was not.

So it was a rather lucky break that Jay had such a useful tool in his bag, revealing the gauntlet for all to see, which in turn, revealed the cave so everybody could see it all.

"You asked for it and I delivered."

"Rightfully so, sir. It's very appreciated!"

The writer, perhaps wisely, chose not to follow up the 'bat' joke that the new leader had spouted out in his moment of usurping and instead focused his attention on the scenery of the cave as he walked along. And though one rock wall might as well have been like any other, Jun still seemed vaguely enthralled; Many thrilling stories always involved a cave you see, whether it be the hellish roost of a malevolent dragon or the tomb of an ancient king, long buried in the minds of his people... At least, until the wrath of his legion of damned souls returns to lay waste to the nonbelievers.

The only thing that could make the spelunking trip even better was-

"Move! It's a trap!"

Jay's sudden shout startled the lancer from his daydream, the shaking of the ground accompanying that abrupt warning and making the danger all that much clearer. Jun leapt forward as well, though at the same time slamming his already armed glaive into the cave wall, piercing the stone and leaving the lancer hanging from the pole safely and decidedly un-impaled by spikes. And from there, without even a single hint of sarcasm in his voice, he exlaimed, "A collapsing floor trap! Pretty classic, these bandits! I wonder if we'll have to outrun a rolling boulder next."

The scribe kicked up a bit of momentum and flipped himself to a squatting position on top of his polearm, glancing down into the depths of the pit from his place directly above it. Any skeletons maybe? Or the mangled remains of some less able or fortunate bandit hunters? Not that he hoped they were there or anything... But it certainly would complete the moment's ambience.

[Terminally Chill]

(OOC: This post came out way longer than I intended it to be... Jeez, that's never happened before. >.>)

Much to the dismay of Gavin, it seemed the ragtag battalion were destined to venture into the maw of the dark and dreary cavern. It would at least give the musician's minimally-covered feet a break from the freezing snow. The rougher looking man named Jack shot a glance dripping with malicious intent toward Gavin. The bard blinked a few times at the sharp eyes of the 40 billion beri man, not exactly sure what he had done to attract such resentment. The musician had not said a word to Jack since the incident between he and Jay Masaru in the city. Although, perhaps Jack needed little reason to throw around such cutting glares; angry people will be angry, after all. However, it seemed as though no action was going to accompany the murderous glint barely held at bay within the man's dark eyes as he calmly strode past Gavin his wordsmith companion.

“...I have sonar capabilities.”

It seemed the foul-mouthed Jack Dancer was actually offering aid to another human being, a characteristic that one would not have thought possible upon first meeting the belligerent bruiser. Furthermore uncharacteristic was his reluctant decision to begrudgingly take the “lead” of the group through the cave. After all, Jack could have simply went on ahead by himself and pursued his own goal that had brought him to Shivre Mountain.

Despite the luck that had befallen the group to be blessed with a Devil Fruit user who could navigate through the cave, the idea of using the man's “sonar” to pass through the inky cavern was rather unsettling to Gavin. A slight frown adorned the corner of his mouth upon Jack mentioning the way in which they would be proceeding. Although utilizing the ruffian's Devil Fruit powers would certainly work, it just seemed like, well... a pain. Gavin often followed the mantra of going through life expending as little effort as possible, and blindly following a man through a cave definitely sounded like an ordeal. However, there was little alternative at this point. With a sigh, Gavin moved forward with the rest of the group into the beginning of the cave.

“What are you supposed to be, a bat?”

Snickering from behind the group at his jab, Jay placed an ornate gauntlet on his hand and with a snap of his fingers, created a make-shift torch from the weapon. Gavin twisted his neck slightly to focus on what the source of the light that had entered his periphery vision was. It was slightly more comforting to see someone in the group had an actual light that they could illuminate the cave with. As comfortable as anything could be on the side of a mountain, anyway. With the burning gauntlet raised over his head, Jay passed by Jack, leaving his rival with a rather snide remark as he took the “lead” in the group. It seemed the two fighters would make a competition out of nearly anything. The four unlikely bandit-hunters were finally making progress into the cave, and it seemed they would make quick work of it with the burning fist of the Azure Dragon leading the way.

“I don't get it, man,” said Gavin dully from behind the flint-and-steel fisted brawler, referring to Jay's earlier crack comparing Jack to a bat. This was a fairly delayed realization, but Gavin had been dwelling upon the barb since the younger Masaru brother had said it. For Jun, who was familiar with the musician's rather clouded mind, this surely was not a surprise. Whether or not Jay would have elaborated upon the joke any further or simply dismissed the troubadour as a moron would not be known, as the martial artist made an unexpected folly in stepping on the trigger to a bandit trap.

“Move! It’s a trap!”

While Jay and Jun had snapped into action in a split second upon hearing those words, Gavin was slow (as usual) to realize exactly what was happening. Although the ground beneath him was shaking, the musician simply gave a few clueless blinks. The concept that the ground beneath his feet was about to give way slowly dawned on Gavin. By the time he fully realized he needed to quickly move forward, it was already too late for the musician. Although he managed to leap forward before the floor of the cave suddenly broke apart and collapsed, it was not a great enough leap to remain on solid ground. Coming just short of reaching potential refuge on one of the cave walls, the musician plummeted downward. Hand clawing and feet scraping frantically at the wall of the cave to attempt to slow his rapid descend into the deadly pit, Gavin looked down with widened eyes at the bed of cruel spikes that awaited him. Gavin Amadeus D'Arras was indeed a dope, but eve he was not going to allow himself to die in the cave. Looking upward to see his writer comrade perched on the Fountain Glaive, the minstrel's mind raced to find a solution to his precarious situation. He had precious little time to do so.

In a feat of agility one would not expect the guitarist to be capable of, Gavin fathered all the strength his legs could muster before leaping from the wall, sailing through the air toward an adjacent cave wall. Turning in mid-air, the wandering musician grasped the neck of his treasured instrument and removed it from its usual home on his back, quickly placing it in the correct position to actually play it. To anyone not familiar with Gavin's abilities, they would most likely believe the young musician wished to play one last song before becoming impaled on the spikes below. Gavin was going to play a song, but it was much greater than any mundane melody

As the distance between the troubadour and the stone wall became shorter, the fingers on Gavin's left hand quickly found their way to their positions on the fret board, while his right arm was suspended in air, ready to strum downward at a moment's notice. Deeming the time to be right, the young musician did so, strumming hard downward and calling out the name of the technique that he was most likely about to owe his life to.

“Red Composition: Unchained Serenade!”

The song would usually be reserved for dangerous opponents who had forced Gavin into conflict, but at this point it was being used in a much different sense. The strings of the White Guitar of the Ocean Bard resonated loudly through the cavern as a sudden blast of sound erupted from the mysterious instrument. The force of the attack collided with the cave wall, causing an explosion of splintered stone to engulf the instrumentalist for a moment. The intention of the technique soon ran its course, as the slim body of the wanderer soon broke free of the debris cloud, sailing upward in a smooth arc. Although this was quick thinking on Gavin's part, it would not be enough to save him just yet; he was simply now just plummeting back toward certain death. However, descent was a continuing arc appearing to be a collision course with Jun!

Gavin did not panic as this unfolded. Through a lot of luckk and a bit of skill, the usually slow musician had been able to launch himself along the correct trajectory to come down right on top of Jun's staff. Sailing just over the scribe's head, Gavin dropped past the spear and stretched a lanky arm to grasp the pole arm just in time. With his right hand in a white-knuckle grip and his left grasping the neck of his guitar, Gavin hung from the glaive just as Jun had done before. For now it seemed the weapon would be able to support the weight of both men.

“Hey, man,” Gavin said as nonchalantly as possible to his perched comrade, breathing rather heavily after the near-death experience.

[BEX]

The instant Jay had stepped past him haughtily commenting upon how, he, Masaru had become the new “leader” of the reluctant group. With a scowl the ever defiant scraggly haired pirate expressed himself hostilely to that statement,

“It’s a d*mn shame I’m gunna kill yer ass…you’ve got such retarded sense of reality it’s almost funny” he retorted to the man’s back.

Not too long after Jay had taken the lead something had changed about the area and through his enhanced abilities to perceive sound Jack became immediately aware of it as he trudged along silently with the rest of the band of wanna-be heroes. Of course he didn’t alert the other men to his suspicions because he hadn’t sensed any harm in the slight change in the environment around them; in fact the change was so subtle in his opinion that no one else had taken notice of it. When the street punk ahead of him stepped on the trigger for the trap it seemed as if the ground hissed angrily and within seconds Jack’s image disappeared from behind Jay transferring the sordid man to the other side of the rift that had suddenly appeared in the ground. He watched the musician fall to what he thought would be his certain death only to be surprised by the appearance of the seemingly dull man unscathed.

“Great leadership skills ya got there…little Masaru” he chimed sending echoes into every portion of the cave that they were still in.

He was looking at the rest of the group standing across the spike filled chasm in the ground; his abilities had not only saved him, but he was now in a position to continue on without these idiots following him around,

“Peace out losers” he said casually as he turned his back on the men standing on the other side; they had taken him as far as he needed them to, now was his time to go find out about these famous bandits on his own.

[Masta Deltron]

Jay looked back to make sure everyone made it out safely. He was a little embarrassed because while trying to show off he ended up putting people in danger. Well he didn’t care for jack much but he made it out though. The Musician and writer used some acrobatics to make it out but just barley. They all stood on the other side. Jay waited for the others Jack sped by him yelling out “Peace out losers!” This kind of put jay on the edge because he would hate for Jack to show him up. Yet he was a bit more caring and he did not want to leave the other two behind.

“Well if you guys do not want to get left behind I suggests we hurry. Because the bandits most likely already knew they were coming because of all the commotion that they just made. Hopefully there were no more traps in front, or better yet Jack would have triggered all of them before they got there. He could only hope Jack was that stupid but you never know the lug might have a brain in that head. He could easily catch Jack if he wanted to but the others would get left behind with no light.

So with his hand raised he continued to light the path as he lead the two deeper into the lair of the bandits. “Lets go!”

[Tsin]

The sudden addition of somebody else's weight on his temporary platform alerted Jun to Gavin's emergency presense, although the abrupt explosion of stone shrapnel and the fact that the writer was peering down into the chasm for the musician's earlier impressive endeavor helped as well. And he nodded at his friend with a smile of vague respect, not at all worried that his weapon would buckle under the weight of two people and a guitar. Gavin's hanging around did pose another problem though... For the lancer in any case. And maybe the musically minded man as well, if he hadn't thought things through.

"Nice to have you on board, Gavin. But... I'm going to need you across before I pull the Fountain Glaive out and proceed as well. If you just hold on for just another second though..."

Jun stood up straight suddenly, balanced effortlessly upon the relatively narrow shaft of his own blade... then took one step backwards, rather predictably falling from his safe spot. His hands lashed out though, grabbing a hold of the same support that Gavin was currently enjoying; however the scribe's arm speed paled in comparison to his leg speed, scything out as well and slamming right into his good friend's arse, hopefully sending the guitarist sailing safely (if not somewhat painfully...) across the dangerous spike-filled abyss.

If all had worked out perfectly, a new man would replace Gavin in dangling over the pit, and Gavin himself would be enjoying a comfortable new position beside Jay. And if not... Well...

In any case, Jun braced his boots against the wall nearest him now, kicking against it with enough force to not only pry free the Fountain Glaive, but also fuel an acrobatic leap to the opposite cave wall. From there, like a mirrored version of Gavin's latest stunt though with much less fanfare, the martial artist bounced from one cavern surface to another until he too was standing safely by Jay.

"Jack really ran ahead? Hn... Unfortunate character he is, but lead on Jay!"

"Let's go!"

The scribe followed close behind the designated leader as the remaining trio pressed onwards towards a probably inevitable clash with bandits. With the polearm tucked neatly against his back again though, Jun's face showed not a single sign of concern as he raced towards his fate.

[Terminally Chill]

“If you just hold on for just another second though..."

The precariously dangling musician looked up to his friend, blinking a few times curiously as to what exactly Jun had in mind for remedying the rather sticky situation they had both found themselves in. Giving Gavin little notice or time to prepare himself, the scribe nimbly swung the pole-arm that supported both men and delivered a powerful kick to the musician's backside. The force suddenly broke Gavin's grip on the Fountain Glaive, sending him sailing through the air and tumbling awkwardly onto solid ground on the other side. A few loud “bong” sounds resonated from the musician's guitar as he rolled to a halt, a bit battered from none the less safe from a spiky death.

After shaking the post-landing cobwebs from his head, Gavin looked to Jay with the usual clueless gaze. It seemed of the two brawlers, this one at least showed some compassion toward Jun and Gavin, who would have been stranded without light had the Azure Dragon decided to pursue Jack. Soon aftet the musician's crash landing, Jun landed gracefully beside the sitting troubadour after a display of his own athletic ability. Gavin looked upward at Jun as he shifted his legs to rise to a standing base.

“Thanks, man, but I think I could have just jumped...” said the musician with as much gratitude as he could, rubbing his sore backside and repositioning his tophat as he stood up. With little time to waste, the man with the burning gauntlet once again began the trek through the cave.

“Let's go!”

The pace of the remaining three bandit hunter's expedition would now increase, as Jay Masaru did not want to be outshone by Jack Dancer in the mission to dispose of Shivre Mountain's Bandit problem. Gavin kept in toe with the other two in their more hurried gait, not particularly fond of the idea of remaining in the trap-ridden cave any longer.

[BEX]

It wasn’t necessarily easy for Jack to maneuver through the dark tunnel even with the use of his Ecolocación because there were so many sounds that bombarded his senses making it impossible with his current limited understanding of his own Devil Fruit powers to navigate through the cave. Once he had touched a wall and responded to the incoming whizzing sound by ducking onto the cold, slimy floor as the invisible arrow smattered into the wall on the other side of the cavern. Clearly, the pirates had gone to great lengths to keep their existence hidden; something that Jack could almost appreciate as he treaded carefully through the booby trapped area. Behind and not too far behind, he could “feel” as the younger Masaru made his way towards the same direction that Jack was in which meant that Jack must have been going in the correct direction. Of course common sense didn’t necessarily yield to that sort of logic the naïve young pirate fully bought into that theory,

“Just a little more and I’ll bet those bandits will be sitting ducks” he whispered not trying to create too much of his own sound waves in order to focus on the ones that gave him the crude layout of the area around him.

Soon he came out into an opening that signaled sunlight and indeed it was sunlight that flashed brightly into the successful pirate’s eyes, but he had not yet realized his folly because he had walked right into the final booby trap of the Rock Dragon pirates. Several of the men stood poised to strike the moment he dropped his arm from the disarming amount of sunlight that poured in. Unfortunately for the men someone stumbled slightly in the snow and immediately Jack leaped backward into the cave hoping to avoid any attacks that may have come flying towards him while he still tried to recover his sight. Ducking further into the cave the young man stared at the blurry masses all round him while a commanding voice barked at the men for alerting their target and compromising their mission to slay the intruder,

“Shit…these dudes are cruel…they almost freakin’ killed me” Jack realized as he pressed himself against a crevice in the cave; he decided it may have been best for Masaru and the others since it would be a pain if he got captured.

“Damn…” he grumbled as he realized with deep annoyance that the younger of the Masaru brothers was going to have a good time mocking Jack on his lack of ability to disperse of the bandits at the entrance by himself.

Unfortunately, his weakness was about to reveal itself and he wasn’t sure that he wanted to be caught in the middle of a fray when his body finally refused to stop listening to him.