Mission 49: A Sword's Path (DBP Swordsmen)

[flame08]

The path of the swordsman and his sword is long. It is said that a true swordsman can make his sword cut through only that which he wants it to cut. And while the swordsman may be unable to slice through a simple piece of paper, he might be quite able to cut a piece of steel perfectly in half. It is the calling of this path that has brought many a swordsman too the small island of Shimoshiki, the homeland of the famous Roronoa Zoro. His old teacher sent out a message across the blues, that he would give 10,000 beri to any swordsmen who could complete a set of tasks that he had set out.

This calling had been brought on by recent events which has skyrocketed Zoro into common knowledge amongst the Blues and Grand Line. The fall of Ennies Lobby and the infamous movements of the Straw Hat crew had built up Zoro's fame and sent many newbie swordsmen to the island to train under Zoro's master.

Upon this calling a particular group of swordsmen had come on this very day to the island. Of the swordsmen, three of their names had now been heard throughout the far reaches of the East Blue, their heads were now worth a sum much larger than normally seen in the East Blue and have ever been seen in the East Blue.

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In the middle of the town, a young girl with bright red hair stood, her hair making her stand out of the crowds. Swinging her sword in sheath around in a bandaged up hand/arm she grabbed the hilt with her other hand and unsheathed it. The sword withdrew cleanly from its sheath and shone in the bright sun of the day. Smiling happily she re-sheathed the sword and walked over to an old man standing by a dumpling cart (lololz random much). "Excuse me, mister?" He turned to her looking her square on in his bent form. "Yes?", "Could you direct me to . . ." looking at a sheet of paper she had pulled out from a satchel . . "Ko-shi-ro's Dojo?" The old man nodded nicely to her pointing to a hill in the distance.

"You must have come to take Koshiro's challenge. He's been getting quite a few of them recently, we're really proud of the dojo. The fame Zoro has gotten is spreading to the island as well." He smiled.

Smiling back at him Syph bowed to him and headed back to her crewmates so they could head up together. "The old man said its up on that hill over there." she said.

[Farris (Kuro)]

The dark blue kimono clung tightly to the body of a certain black haired swordswoman named Momo Du. her wooden clog slippers made gentle "cloping" noises as she walked along the gravel path. She was headed in the same direction as Syph. Her her hips swaying as she walked and her sword hidden at her calf. "Oh Syph dear, do wait for us." She called out with a wink to her nakama, not caring how many people saw her being openly flirtatious with the other girl. In some cases, Momo enjoyed the attention it brought. particularly when Jack was concerned.

Momo moved up behind syph and hugged her from behind, in a both friendly and affectionate manner. "We're all going to the same place after all, no need to rush." She said before letting the girl go and peaking behind her to see if their other two crew mates had followed. It almost seemed the girls were more eager to see the teacher of the famed Roronoa Zoro. Mind you she had heard only a little about this man but she was fascinated by the skills of his swordplay. Maybe his teacher was on that level and she could learn a few things...

[BEX]

The two women seemed to move excitedly as the swordsmen of the Dancing Blade Pirates visited Shimoshiki Island in order to see the great sensei who taught Roronoa, Zoro of the Mugiwara crew, but of course Jack didn’t share in their optimism. Moving slowly as Momo hugged Syph playfully Jack thought about what things were going to be like and already he wasn’t certain if he even expected this man to be anything, but a dud,

“D*mn and here I thought we were gonna do something interesting” he muttered with sigh as he placed his hands behind his head tilting his head skyward observing the serene cloud pattern above the island where star had originated.

He was careful to avoid jostling the sheath of the Odachi that was strapped to his back. It was essentially the main reason that he had decided to tag along on this venture since he was hoping that the man would help provide him with more insight into unleashing the blade’s full power. Although he had made some progress, Jack knew that he was still a novice with the weapon and if he wanted to be able to battle in intense battles he would have to become much stronger than he already was. He wondered if Xun, his First Mate was as unenthusiastic about this supposed master as he, Jack was. After all of all the members of the Dancing Blade crew, the Pirate Captain related most to the quiet swordsman whose skills had always been a source of endless interest. Remembering this sparked a interesting yet exciting thought in the young man’s head,

“Yo, Xun…” he addressed the blond haired man while suddenly stopping, “…I’m feeling kinda stiff and I don’t think we ever finished our duel back on Illusia Kingdom. How ‘bout a little warm up?” he asked as he rested one hand comfortably on the hilt that extended just outside the sheath.

This would certainly prove to be more exciting than listening to some old timer speak about the ways of a swordsman in Jack’s opinion besides he never was an orthodox swordsman so masters never were much use to him. Except for one man. This thought darkened his expression slightly, but he refused to allow this singular thought to ruin the moment as he jeered at Xun hoping that the other would take the challenge for a good old fashioned skirmish.

[deathrouge]

Xun followed behind the rest of the DPB fighters. They were here to see one of the masters on the island. The master taught one of the most famous swordsman in the world, Roronoa Zoro of the Strawhat crew. He already knew a great deal about swordsmanship, but it was likely that the person they were going to see knew more and could teach them something new. In front of him Syph already found the location of his dojo. He wasn't especially excited, as they went slightly out of their way to see him. Though he did train one of the most famous pirate in the world XUn doubted that his skill were that exceptional. The situations that he and Zoro were in, Xun assumed, were completely different. Part of the experience was actually using it in real situations not just in a dojo.

Jack asked him, “I’m feeling kinda stiff and I don’t think we ever finished our duel back on Illusia Kingdom. How ‘bout a little warm up?” Jack's hand was already on his sword showing his excitement for fighting.

"I would say no, but you won't give me a choice will you." He said quietly gradually getting louder. He reach causally for his sword. He wasn't in any hurry. Jack did have a point however. He hadn't had a good spar in a while. Koshiro would have to wait for now. He pulled his sword from it's sheath slowly. He hoped this spar won't be like the others with the two of them going overboard.

[flame08]

From behind her a voice rang out "Oh Syph dear, do wait for us." She flinched slightly anticipating the coming 'flirting'. Around her people were whispering and staring in wonder. Syph shook her head in disbelief, Momo got to her in a way none of the other crew members did. Something ticked inside of her like a timebomb, which she held back for the sake that Momo was a crew member. Syph disliked it but Momo was able to freak her out and annoy her in a way no other nakama was able to do. It bugged her so.

From behind she felt a thump as two arms encircled her and a softness came upon her back. "We're all going to the same place after all, no need to rush." Twitching slightly she awaited the arms being removed from their encirclement of her body. Turning her head back to Momo, Syph said "I know, i know, but its not like we have anything else to -" she stopped as Jack made a comment to Xun. They were going to have a little duel. "Common don't do -" she stopped herself, its not like they'd listen to her anyways. An open hand itched reaching for her sword hilt. Looking at Momo she said "You wanna get a bite to eat, these two'll take a little while, unless you want to spar as well."

She smiled, either would be fine personally she had no personal opinion at the moment. She just wanted to relax or let loose, in the end both would end with her satisfied so she let it go. Calling to Jack and Xun she said "Don't take too long, remember we don't want to keep Pierce, Juni, and Bella waiting." She paused considering that they should've brought Bella with them. But then she was sick . . . she put that aside. She turned to Momo waiting for an answer.

[Farris (Kuro)]

Momo glanced back to see her lover clashing swords with his firstmate. Their it was amusing to watch, but would be far more entertaining to engage in. So when Syph said "You wanna get a bite to eat, these two'll take a little while, unless you want to spar as well." She only smirked back at her. "Spar first than eat if the boys are still playing." She stated to Syph in a tone a waitress might use to ask if a customer was enjoying their meal. Few thing Momo Du enjoyed more than a good fight, and a spar with Syph would be quite enjoyable as she knew her nakama would give her the challenge she craved. Though before she drew her sword to have it out right their, she looked over at Jack with a smirk. "Oh and Jack Darling, Don't ware yourself out too much... I want the next match with you." She told him with a wink.

Perhaps they should have made it more interesting with the "winner" buying lunch. That could wait however, as she drew her Wushu sword from it's scabbard at her left calf and pointed it at Syph and above her own head as she faced her at an angle. It was a more common stance for those that used this sort of blade. She waved to the other woman to let her know that she was welcome to make the first move.

[BEX]

This was what Jack liked to see. His First Mate had drawn his weapon albeit it was reticently in preparation for the coming spar meaning that there was a chance that this wouldn’t be as fun as he had initially thought it would be. Sighing as gripped tightly at the elongated hilt of his own weapon the Pirate Captain decided that he wouldn’t waste too much time if the other wasn’t going all out especially when there were still some things that he could find more interesting to do than bang swords with an unwilling Xun he reminded himself with a smile as he glanced in Momo’s direction.

“How ‘bout this? Whoever has the upper hand at the end of 5 minutes is the winner, good?” he asked Xun leaving the reserved blond a chance to get out of getting into a full fledged fight though it was what Jack had actually desire.

Widening his pace in anticipation he waited for the answer to his question, but more importantly he waited for his ‘sparring partner’ to strike out first thus sounding the beginning of the battle. He would have lashed out angrily, however he knew that Xun was the honorable type and would most likely take issue with the fact that Jack would take advantage of a situation like that.

“Hurry up” he willed Xun with his mind, he hated waiting obviously.

(OOC: 5 posts is 5 minutes so after that we can get out of here)

[deathrouge]

“How ‘bout this? Whoever has the upper hand at the end of 5 minutes is the winner, good?"

He was relieved that he wouldn't have a full scale fight. He had grown weary of it recently. Most of the time it was all he was doing. His heart wasn't really in it as of late. Fighting never appealed to him in the first place. He didn't fight for fun most of the time, but now it seemed like every week was a new person to fight.

"Alright," He said excitedly, more so to get it over with than the actual fight. I have to last five minutes. He thought to himself before making his starting move. He took a step forward with his right foot, raising his sword over his head as he did so. When Xun took his next step he pushed forward with his leg propelling himself to Jack. HE touched down to the ground once again and pivoted his entire body , so that he was now facing his captain's side. He swung the sword diagonally letting it's momentum go into the follow through. He preformed the actions halfheartedly just doing the attack.

[flame08]

Syph smiled slightly at the answer, some swordplay was to be had. She had not been dying to have a fight, but she was bored and slightly annoyed at Momo, a little bloodshed would be interesting. Or just overpowering . . . she shifted her mind away from such things. This was just a 'friendly' duel after all. Reaching her sword hand for her hilt she tightened a grasp. Pulling it out fully the steel glinted as rays from the sun shone down upon it. Her blade, Kitasha, yearned for a little movement, she took a quick look at Momo. Her Wushu blade was much shorter than her weapon, but then she had never actually seen one of them used. So she'd have to be careful if she fought without her own abilities.

She'd do a quick check, "Iaido Shot!" her sword swung out sending a twenty lb shot of compressed air straight at Momo, rushing forward along with it, she swung her sword up placing her other hand near to the tip of Kitasha on the blunt edge. Trying to catch Momo's blade at the hilt she would then use her elbow to smash into the opponent's chest then torque their body over by using her elbow as a fulcrum place force upon the opponent's sword and flip them.

(srry if that's unclear if u need a better explanation just ask)

[Farris (Kuro)]

In a strong burst of air Syph shot of forward at her. The large breasted woman smiled and made no move to dodge, instead she parried the attack catching the other girl's blade with her own in a skillful display. She then pushed of from Syph's Kitasha and drop to her knee in a crouching motion and slashed at at the other female swordswomen with a good natured chuckle. She fully expected Syph not to be caught by such a simple maneuver. She was a touch girl and her nakama so she expected no less that great strength and skill in her. "Nice play, Syph dear~!" She said in almost a sing tone. It was obvious Momo was having fun. She wondered is Syph realized that this was the reason she was so "affectionate" towards her? The challenge of battle and a good fight which the other woman presented to her was very pleasing so far...

It was hardly about sexual perversions though that wasn't to say she wouldn't mind doing something like that with the girl on occasion. Especially if Jack joined them? Though she knew the petite woman had little love for their captain, no matter how charming she found him to be.