SWORD: CHAPTER TWO - Rock Solid Duo

[thormundsson]

The wind was blowing steadily towards the east, exactly towards their destination. It seemed as if fate itself had decided that their journey must not be delayed. Off in the distance Rael could see their destination, Shivre Mountain. The place had a very ominous look to it, being a secular mountain town with almost nothing else going on save for weapons production. That alone though was enough to make it a very valuable place. A lot of the marines weaponry came from that island and the growing threat of the mountain bandits was getting out of hand.

"You know, one of the main things I'll like once we stand at the top is the fact we don't have to ride on such a crummy little passenger vessel" Rael said as he turned from the view of the mountain to address is old friend. It seemed that even Dante, relaxed as he always was, was getting interested in this little mission of theirs. They were on board the "blowfish" a very small and slow vessel that ferried men and merchandise between Shivre and Jreum island. The ship's captain, fat and bloated as the ship itself, had been reluctant to accept marines aboard his vessel but after a nice discussion he had agreed to take them aboard. He had become very co-operative when Rael threatened to split him from toe to shoulder with his blade and as usual Dante had to step in and grab him.

"I wasn't going to kill him, just give him a few scars to be proud of!" Rael said, his voice showing more annoyance than he had meant it to. He unsheathed his shortsword and began tossing it between his hands and spinning it around. It always calmed him to do it and he had never quite figured out why. Most likely it was the calm rhythm he got into, switching it from hand to hand with reckless skill. He always did hesitate to do it in front of people, it showed them more than he wanted but he was frustrated now and needed to blow off some steam. He knew as far as blade skills he was a somewhat better than Dante but the man made up for it with a body and physical power that out classed Rael by a mile.

"Alright, I heard their tavern is pretty good so I figure we can hole up there for the duration of this. Seems like it won't be easy to find or take down these bandits so it'll probably be better to have a place to stay...." he trailed of as the ship sailed into the harbor, the fat piece of wood that it was.

[|The SHAKINATOR|]

"You know, one of the main things I'll like once we stand at the top is the fact we don't have to ride on such a crummy little passenger vessel." He heard Rael's voice penetrate his thoughts. His eyes opened from his dream-like state, having been planning the expedition at hand.

"You can say that again. I can't even relax my body on this bloody thing." Dante complained, moving his body as if it were tense. "Remind me to stretch off once we get off. I don't even know how long it will take us, moving at this speed. Is there even any wind blowing?" Dante questioned the weather, sticking his finger in the air having applied moisture to it in the form of saliva. This was a handy technique to check upon the direction and speed of the wind. He shook his head in disappointment. This was pointless. "Which thick b@stard is navigating this thing?" Dante said out-loud having become frustrated at the lack of progress. The plump captain of the ship gave Dante a hard stare which Dante shrugged off with a snobby look.

He looked into the distance where the Shivre Mountain was in view. "I bet I could swim faster than this," Dante claimed boastfully. "Perhaps you should have killed the idiot after all," Dante chuckled sending a glare in the captain's direction once again.

"Alright, I heard their tavern is pretty good so I figure we can hole up there for the duration of this. Seems like it won't be easy to find or take down these bandits so it'll probably be better to have a place to stay...." Rael suggested to which Dante nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, that sounds like a plan. Just make sure the place is of better quality than this lousy boat." Dante said leaning back against the box of materials that were loaded on the boat. However, the real plan was slowly brewing in Dante's complex mind. He wanted to have some fun as well as take those bandits down and gain that promotion. The plan was dangerous but should they carry it out succesfully, they would be the safest people on the island. Just thinking about the thought brought a smile on his face. "I bet your thinking why I've got this smile on my face, right?" Dante questioned his partner. "When you hear the plan that I've come up with, you'll be smiling as well." Dante informed, smiling the whole while.

[thormundsson]

The smile that marred Dante's face was as unsettling as any gruesome murder. In their time together Rael had become accustomed to the various moods his friend brewed into and this one was always a particular joy of his. Dante had a neck for plans and it seemed to be his specialty to make sure his plans were as painful for their opponents as they could be. "I do love that smile of yours, mate. It means I get to have some fun slicing scum up, heh" he smiled as he swiped his rapier a few times through the air, images of dying criminals swimming around in his head when he did.

The ship crawled to the harbor and seemed to mimic the laboring movements of it's captain that was now smacking his fingers and wishing all those who had been on the ship a pleasant farewell. Something interesting came to Rael's mind as he and Dante walked towards the plank, getting ready to leave this rotting hull of a ship. As he stepped past the man he dragged his short blade from it's sheath and sliced one of the ropes away. In an instance the rope unraveled and the heavy rigging it was holding dragged it away in an instance. The interesting fact was the one of the hooks on it latched on to the captains clothes and launched him into the air.

The duo exited the ship with the nice combination of a huge splash behind them as the man landed in the water and shouts of panic as his men rushed to his aid, seemingly because he couldn't swim. "You know, any moron that claims to be a captain of a vessel, even one as stupid as this one, should be a damn good swimmer, hehe" Rael chuckled as he and Dante stood on the pier.

The place the had come to was an ominous one. The town was nestled at the base of the mountain and it seemed that it was growing up the slopes like a some sort of fungi and by the looks of it the sun didn't shine on the town save during the mornings and evenings but during the day it would be blocked by the mountain. He had heard of the mountains behind the town, supposedly they were a maze of underground passages who seemed to go on forever. The mix of wild animals in them as well as the risk of getting lost had made them the perfect haven for the Rock bandits or whatever they were called.

"I'm thinking we're gonna have to use that plan of yours, seems like they won't just come barging down here if we ask nicely" Rael said with a mixed smile of annoyance and interest in seeing what Dante had in mind.

[|The SHAKINATOR|]

After having annoyed Dante, he wasn't too concerned with what was to be done with the foolish captain of the small traders boat as long as no blood was spilled for that would cause unnecessary attention towards the two of them. Rael however, had a plan that would bring a smile to both their faces. He pulled out his blade but instead of striking the plump man, he cut the rope that held the boat to the dock. Before the captain knew it, his vessel was moving off to sea along with the current. To make things worse, the rope wrapped itself around his feet and dragged him into the sea along with it. "You know, any moron that claims to be a captain of a vessel, even one as stupid as this one, should be a damn good swimmer, hehe." Rael chuckled and Dante followed.

"That ought to teach him a thing or two about the sea. The daft plonker," Dante ridiculed him before taking his surroundings into view. The island was designed magnificently. Truly the work of a genius to be able to turn a mountain into such a wonderfully crafted, inhabitable place. The town they were at was at the bottom of a hierarchy of such towns that climbed the mountain as they looked up towards its peak. This place was indeed perfect for bandits. It would be almost impossible to hunt them down unless you knew the island better than they did, which would be impossible having just arrived.

"I'm thinking we're gonna have to use that plan of yours, seems like they won't just come barging down here if we ask nicely." Rael said, slightly disappointed with the complexity of the task. At least he acknowledged the fact that they would need a plan, Dante thought to himself.

"Lets find ourselves a tavern and we can discuss the general idea as we settle in. Don't want our trump card to be taken off us before we even play it." Dante suggested. Talking in the open about such plans was not a good idea. Especially with the number of members the Rock-Dragon Bandits possessed. It was possible, they had eyes and ears in every corner.

Dante saw a man standing nearby, counting the arrival of the stock he had ordered. He seemed to be a knowledgeable man and a resident of the island. "Hello there my good sir." Dante warmed up to him with a greeting before making an introduction. "My friend here and I have come to this island for some business. We don't really have a place to stay so we were wondering if you know of a place where we can spend the night? We've just had a tiresomely long journey." Dante asked the bald man. He waited patiently, hoping his tight lips would move with his eyes glued upon the long mustache that was stuck above his upper lip. His sense of dress suggested he was a respectable business man so it was important not to sound like a bunch of idiots.

[thormundsson]

"You must be new to this region, judging by your lack of survival skills" The man answered, moving his nose around from side to side so as to either clear an itch or lessen some bad smell he had just found. Rael was very close to responding with a snide remark but decided against it after a quick thought. "There are quite a number of places here for a man to stay. Might I inquire as to what your business here is" The man responded as he finally reached for his nose and scratched the tip of it, letting out a very obvious sigh of relief. There was a hint of annoyance in his voice as he looked slowly from side to side.

"We're here for a bit of hiking since we heard that you can't get a better mountain experience than at Shivre Mountain" Rael answered calmly as he fought back the urge to slap the man for not paying attention to them. His rapier was in full sight though his shortblade was not. Dante's guns were concealed enough for the man not to notice unless he'd frisk him, a somewhat unsettling image. The fact that only his blade was visible made it a plausible thought. After all, those traveling in the world in this day and age had to be prepared to fight for their right to live.

"If you're here for the .....hiking.... experience I suggest staying at the Crumbling Castle, it's a nice place at the edge of the town and the one closes to the mountains. You won't be bothered there, the militia doesn't have much interest or influence around there." He said slowly. Rael couldn't shake the feeling that his remark that they were going hiking had some greater meaning than he had ever wanted it to be. They nodded a thank you towards the man and then continued on with their journey. As the turned the corner of the road a minute later Rael twisted his head slightly to see that the man was still watching them as they vanished from sight.

"You know, I'm used to the names of these strange taverns but I must admit I didn't think it would be so fitting" Rael said as the duo turned down the road leading to the place the man had so willingly directed them towards. From the looks of it the place was just what the name said. It was the crumbling ruins of an old castle or fortress and parts of it had been recovered with planks. The bright side was that it seemed to be well lit from the inside.

Rael stopped a for a few moments to grab a bag of fruit from a stand along the way, he needed some fresh food after that dreadfully boring trip on the ship. As he rejoined Dante he could already tell that his friends mind was hard at work coming up with some brilliant plan.

[|The SHAKINATOR|]

"You must be new to this region, judging by your lack of survival skills," the man said. 'lack of survival skills?' Dante thought to himself, laughing whilst doing so. Dante could survive in between a herd of bulls wearing a red suit with nothing but a needle. "There are quite a number of places here for a man to stay. Might I inquire as to what your business here is?" The old man asked as if curious about the travellers.

'Oh boy, gotta make up a far-fetched story now?' Dante thought to himself. He was just about to open his mouth and talk of how they were here in search of their long lost uncle but before he could even open his mouth, he heard Rael say, "We're here for a bit of hiking since we heard that you can't get a better mountain experience than at Shivre Mountain."

'Hiking? Where the hell did that come out from? Was that the most ridiculous thing Rael could think of?' Dante thought to himself, bewildered at the choice of story his partner used. There was no way this dude would buy it. Hell, they didn't even have any real hiking gear with them.

"If you're here for the .....hiking.... experience I suggest staying at the Crumbling Castle, it's a nice place at the edge of the town and the one closes to the mountains. You won't be bothered there, the militia doesn't have much interest or influence around there." He told them, giving them precise details so that they could enjoy their experience.

'He bought it?!?' Dante stood there, shocked and even more confused. Had the old man looked him in the eye, he would have questioned the expression on his face but lucky for them, he was distracted by Rael as he gave his thanks.

As the two turned away from their guide, Dante stopped and looked at Rael. "Hiking? Seriously dude? You have got to work on your 'making up stories on the spot' skill."

[/b] Dante told him, without a second thought. "That story was so lame,"[/b] he added, laughing to himself as they began to walk in the direction that was directed to them.

Dante had been in his own thoughts when Rael mentioned, "You know, I'm used to the names of these strange taverns but I must admit I didn't think it would be so fitting."
Dante looked on up ahead and there stood a castle, barely. You could go to the extent and call it an old man standing on legs suffering from arthritis, with a walking stick in hand for support.

"I think your friend back there really brought the whole hiking trip story."[/b] Dante brought the subject back again. "We'll have to be hiking if we want to make it through till tomorrow if we sleep in this place," Dante jested. He noticed Rael had a bag of fruit in his hand. Dante hadn't even realised when he'd picked it up. "Oi, you just steal that?" Dante questioned him? If Rael was as bad as Dante thought he was, this plan would work flawlessly.[/blockquote][/blockquote]

[thormundsson]

"Hey, the hiking was a legitimate idea, this island does have a huge ass mountain..........though the presence of bandits does make it kind of unappealing......yeah okey, I'll work on my improvisation skills" Rael said with a bit of annoyance in his voice as the duo closed in with the tavern. If nothing it looked like the parts that were still standing were pretty solid. "And no I didn't steal this, I bought it from that stand........though I can't remember if I paid for it or not.......I'll make up for it by killing more bandits, the world will work it out" He said as his friend commented on the bag of fruits he had, it was a nice mix of tropical fruits that he didn't usually get. The only mandatory fruits aboard Marine vessels were citrus fruits and that was to counter scurvy.

The reaction they got as the entered the inn was an interesting one. There were dozens of people in there and almost everyone off them was armed with some sort of weapon, be it a blade or a gun, though the latter seemed to be less frequent. Rael didn't let their stares bother him and if he knew his friend right Dante wouldn't care even the slightest. They walked over to the bar counter and were greeted by the bartender of the inn. The young woman was good looking and dressed to complement her body and seemed to move with a certain confidence that seemed out of place in this remote island.

"How can I help you guys, you don't look like you're from around here" she said, putting her hand through her short hair to move the fringe to one side. "I must warn you that my friends in here are all well versed in fighting so no trouble with those weapons of yours or we'll have to toss you out" She said in a very subtly threatening manner, as if she was testing to see if they would walk out. The hint was obvious but both Rael and Dante knew, just from a glance at the people sitting in the bar that they'd have no trouble tearing this place apart if need be.

"No worries, we have no interest in destroying this place, we're just traveling. We'd like a room, preferably on the second floor if you've got any free" Rael said as he finished the last bite of an apple he had been chewing through. "My friend here will take let you know any details you might need" Rael motioned towards Dante as he grabbed a cluster of grapes from the bag. He wasn't quite looking at his hands as he was surveying the area. The windows were small and very few in this first floor but the rest of the interior looked well built and gave off a friendly look.

At that moment he took a huge chunk out of the fruit, getting several grapes into his mouth before he started chewing. The taste was horrid, it was like he had bitten into a chunk of wood that had been lying in a mixture of sewer and seawater. He tossed the rest of it into the nearest fire and coughed and hacked, trying to get rid of the taste.

"Hand me a drink, now! or I just might soil your floor with this horrid fruit" he said with his hand stretched out, reaching for the glass of whiskey the woman placed on the table in a few quick maneuvers.

"I've got half a mind to go back and toss the rest of this bag at the stand owner......" he coughed through as he turned back to face Dante.

[|The SHAKINATOR|]

"Hey, the hiking was a legitimate idea, this island does have a huge ass mountain..........though the presence of bandits does make it kind of unappealing......yeah okey, I'll work on my improvisation skills" Rael admitted his flaw but Dante wasn't too bothered really. His attention was drifting elsewhere.

"Yeah man, whatever. Not like it really matters anyway, right." Dante said, as they entered the premises of the tavern. "Might as well get a room quick before I lose my plan."

"And no I didn't steal this, I bought it from that stand........though I can't remember if I paid for it or not.......I'll make up for it by killing more bandits, the world will work it out" Rael added after his partner questioned him.

"Not bad. Not bad at all. You're turning into something more like me everyday. Hahaha" Dante laughed. "Send us some of those grapes, they look quite ripe." Dante commented, taking some of the fruit his partner had got a hold of.

Upon entering, Dante noticed the attention of everybody within turn towards them, their weapons drawn out as a greeting. Dante took both his revolvers out from their hoisters, giving them a quick spin with his fingers, showing of his drawing skills before returning them back to where they rested before the audience could even react. It was a sign to say, I'm skilled but don't want no trouble. Rael made the wise move of ingoring them.

There was a hot girl behind the counter and as his partner spoke, he couldn't help but check her figure out from the corner of his eye. He heard something about keeping their weapons in check and he nodded as to say he would comply with all the rules but from taking one glance at him, it was obvious Dante was a bad boy by nature. Well, that was the personality he was trying to display for that was all part of his great plan. "...My friend here will take let you know any details you might need" Rael said before letting Dante take the lead.

"Hello there my lady. They call me Dante ... Remus Xiao-Lan Dante. Could you have it near a window, I quite like having a view in the morning." Dante said, his real intention was to be able to escape the building should they run into trouble. "Also, we don't like being disturbed so if you could, we would appreciate it if room service be provided only upon request and that we aren't given any noisy and if possible, no neighbours at all." Dante pulled out a bag of beri from his pocket, pulling out a handsome amount and placing them into the ladies hands whilst keeping contact with her eyes. "I'm sure that should be enough for the time being. Let us know if you need anymore." He offered her a little more. "And here's a little something extra for yourself. Buy yourself something nice to go with those beautiful eyes." He charmed the lady, giving her a charismatic smile as he began to walk away, finally breaking eye contact as he rejoined his partner leaving the pretty thing blushing.

Rael's face turned horrid as he took a bite out of a tropical fruit. "Come on dude, its gotta be done. Ladies dig the charming type. No need to make a face about it." Dante said, thinking his partner was concerned with having spent the extra dime. Before he knew it, Rael began to cough and choke at the fruit causing Dante to burst out laughing in hysterical fashion. "HAHA, The universe has spoken. Looks like you god has smited you for your evil ways. Serves you right for stealing you son-of-a-gun."

"Hand me a drink, now! or I just might soil your floor with this horrid fruit" he squealed, downing a load of whiskey down his throat. "I've got half a mind to go back and toss the rest of this bag at the stand owner......"

"Coming from you, I think that means, slitting his throat. HAHAHA!" Dante continued to laugh at his partner as they headed for their room. The woman having found the right room key for their needs.

[thormundsson]

"Coming from you, I think that means, slitting his throat. HAHAHA!" Dante continued to laugh at his partner as they headed for their room. The woman having found the right room key for their needs.

The comment from his friend wasn’t too far off, though in reality he had planned on stuffing the rest of the fruits down the sellers throat with the bag still there. But it seemed like his body wasn’t quite responding to his desires for brutal vengeance, much to his annoyance. Rael moved off, stumbling towards the stairs to the second floor. Their room had was on the very end of the second floor and even contained a stairway to the upper level of the third floor. That floor however was completely destroyed and only a few bits of wall remained. Still it was an open escape route from the building in case anyone attacked them. His legs gave out in the middle of the staircase and he had to half crawl up to the room. He had never eaten anything so bad in his life, that was certain.

He couldn’t quite tell if his friend was following along as he stumbled into the room and sat down on one of two beds there. He was cold, colder than he had ever been before but even though he knew he should be in blinding pain he wasn’t. The feeling of cold throughout his body felt right, as if it should be there and as it should always have been there. Despite the fact that the room had been unheated before his entrance his breath was not showing in the cold air, as if his own body heat was immensely lower.

He shook his head as he tried to figure out why the hell this was happening. It wasn’t food poisoning, least no like any he had had before and he had eaten months old fruits before. It didn’t feel like any disease or such thing because those were usually accompanied by fever, which he most certainly didn’t have. Of course he was not a doctor by any stretch of that word but he could at least guess at these facts.

“WHAT THE HELL IS THI……” he growled loudly as he wrecked his brain. Then the thought suddenly hit him. That strange looking cluster of grapes hadn’t been just some strange fruit. “….A devil’s fruit…..” he whispered as he noticed that the bad feeling was wearing away and replaced by a sense of cold calmness throughout his entire body. He truly couldn’t believe it for…..

[|The SHAKINATOR|]

The two made their way to their room. Dante almost choked as he laughed at the site of his partner crawling up the stairs. That must have been one bad apple Dante thought to himself.

The room was just as requested. Yeah it was a little run-down but they didn't expect a 5-star hotel now so this would have to do. He peered out of the window at the sea. At least the view was nice. Dante crashed onto the bed nearest to the window with his partner sitting down on the other.

"Oi Rael, What's wrong with your face? You don't look so good dude. You sure those fruits weren't poisoned or something?" Dante asked his partner in a tone that was both concerned and confused. "I think you really need to go and pay that shop-keeper a visit. He might be one of the bandits disguised as a fruit seller for all we know." Dante began to ponder that thought, ignoring the distress his partner was in.

"These bandits might actually be smarter than we thought. I was actually thinking about disguises myself. Hey, I haven't even told you my genius plan yet."

[/color] Dante realised turning back to Rael, excited about his plan. "Sort that look on your face out and listen to what I'm going to say." He told Rael as he got ready to explain the details, it was at that moment he realised, Rael was paying him no attention.

“WHAT THE HELL IS THI… ….A devil’s fruit….” Rael said out loud, speaking what he was thinking.

"Dude, did you just say Devil Fruit?"[/color] Dante spoke out. "You do know how much I hate those things so why would my plan involve a Devil Fruit? Now listen, my plan is far more genius than a lousy Cursed Fruit. What we're going to do is going to be talked about for years to come. 'The Rock Solid Duo: Dante and Rael', that's what we'll be known as. We gonna clean up these Rock Dragon Bandits like none other before us..." You even listening to what I'm saying. Dante didn't even realise there was something seriously wrong with his partner and had he paid him more attention he would have seen it coming.[/blockquote][/blockquote]

[thormundsson]

Rael could hear his friend, he was just a meter away at any rate, but his mind was somewhat preoccupied by the revelation that he had become a devil's fruit user. He wasn't quite sure what to think of it at this moment, his mind a swirl of emotions. He had never even considered the possibility of himself gaining such power since it came with such a hefty price. The idea of not being able to swim was bad enough but there was always the possibility of the power being fairly useless. Still it was power and that was all that mattered to Rael.

He wasn't sure if all other fruit users felt this way but he could, in a way, feel what the fruit brought with it. His body felt cold, unnaturally so, but the thing that interested him the most was how little it mattered to him. The cold caused him no pain but more of a relaxed feeling throughout his body. He stood up, listening to his friend who now had his back turned to him. He stretched his limbs and then brought his hands in a semi circle in front of his chest, as if he was doing some sort of strange breathing technique. Then he let the power go free.

The room got noticeably more chilly as the heat seemed to vanish from it and a coat of frost crept up the window and the corners of the room where moist had condensed together. A glass of water that had been left on a desk in the room got icy and bits of it seemed to freeze together into cubes of ice. He noticed that Dante was apparently noticing something so he stopped his power, in the rays of the sun that were shining on the window the frost began to drip away but the temperature in the room stayed at just above zero, it would take some time for the room to return to normal.

Rael grabbed his friend and spun him around. "This is going to be great and you are completely right! The invincible duo of Dante and Rael! We won't slow down until we reach the admirals seat, my friend" he said with an almost jovial smile on his face, something he himself couldn't remember doing for a long time.

"This disguise idea of yours, do you have it planned out more?" he said, not noting if Dante had realized the extent of changes in him. Subtle as they were he knew his friend had a quick mind...

[|The SHAKINATOR|]

Dante noticed a slight change in the behaviour of his partner, as if he were analysing something. It made Dante wonder for a while and that was when he felt his spine tingle. It had suddenly become cold. Very cold. The kinda cold shiver you get when there's a ghost present. "F**k me, it's got cold in here. Do you feel it dude? This place best not be haunted an all. I don't want to be killing some dead-man. That's just wrong." Dante continued talking to himself. "This is just crazy dude. There's frickin' frost dripping from the windows. Is this meant to be the 'cool' room because I sure am freezing."

Just as Dante had mentioned the cold, the temperature of the room began to return. He looked toward Rael who had spun him around, a smile looming on his face and was full of life once again. "This is going to be great and you are completely right! The invincible duo of Dante and Rael! We won't slow down until we reach the admirals seat, my friend." Rael said, as jolly as Dante had ever seen him.


"This disguise idea of yours, do you have it planned out more?"

[/color]Dante suddenly said, trying to avoid the talk of ghosts and cold. Dante being a great judge in character and behaviour knew immediately that something was up with his partner but decided to let it slide. After all, he was excited about this plan more than anything else.

"Ah yes, the plan. You sure are going to like this one." Dante said, trying to boast about his scheming before he had even pitched it. "You know how we tend to act more like thugs whilst were on the job than professionals. We tend to get things done more efficiently when we work it our way. The no nonsense attitude, if you know what I mean." Dante paused, waiting for Rael to take it in whilst he builds it up. "I plan to use this to our advantage as well as have a load of fun. Why don't we disguise ourselves as bandits?! Like get involved in the mayhem, get recruited into the Rock Bandit System. Work our way up and then disintegrate the whole network. Take them down from the core. What do you think about working undercover?" Dante poised the question to Rael, pretty confident he would buy into it. After all, Dante was good at making people see things his way.[/blockquote][/blockquote]

[thormundsson]

Rael could tell that his friend was trying to convince him of going with his plan. There was that very strange yet compelling tone he used when trying to convince people of something and had it not been for their friendship he would have followed his directions right away, so hypnotic was that talent of his. There was a hint of suspicion in his eyes when he had turned around and looked at Rael. The probability of his friend knowing about his newly gained powers was Rael‘s immediate thought but he brushed it aside. There were only two possibilities as to why his friend hadn‘t commented on that and those were that either he knew about it and didn‘t care or he didn‘t know and wasn‘t trying to find out. Either way suited Rael just fine and he knew if his friend wanted to know then he‘d have a hard time hiding anything from him.

But the thought that he needed to convince Rael of using his plan was an amusing one. The very idea of working their way up the ladder and destroying the bandits from within was a very satisfying one. The thought of not being able to just storm in and cut them apart nagged at Rael and he wasn‘t sure if he‘d be able to keep calm in the disguises. He had always been a bit of a hot head and he doubted that any consumption of a Devil‘s fruit had changed him that much. He thought about saying no but he knew right away why he had not done so sooner. The very idea of breaking an organization down from the very core was incredibly satisfying one and he was going to take some very twisted pleasure in watching them claw their eyes out from his betrayal.

„As always you think of everything, my friend!“ he said smiling as he raised his head again, not realizing he had dropped it a bit whilst he was thinking. „You have a neck for finding pleasures in doing these menial tasks and I think we‘re going to have a lot of fun with this“

„Do you have any idea where we should start? I thought the weapon smithy might be a good one since they need to supply their fighting power from somewhere....“

[|The SHAKINATOR|]

"As always you think of everything, my friend!“ was the response that came from Rael. "You have a neck for finding pleasures in doing these menial tasks and I think we‘re going to have a lot of fun with this.“ Rael added and he was spot on. This was going to be a whole lot of fun for the both of them.

Dante nodded his head in agreement, a huge smile beaming on his face whilst doing so. "What can I say man. Stuff like this just comes to me naturally. I just sat there thinking and BAM! An idea pops into my head." Dante boasted. "I reckon we could make a fair bit of money from this as well. I mean, being a bandit gives us the freedom to do what we like right. Plus we can also dispose of other bandits and take their loot as well. God knows, we need the money to buy us a grand-ship. You know we're going to need one to get to the grand-line. I don't want no shitty marine standard." Dante informed his partner of his future plans.

"Do you have any idea where we should start? I thought the weapon smithy might be a good one since they need to supply their fighting power from somewhere....“ Rael asked, curious as to when and where they should make their mark with a suggestion of his own.

A weapon-smith shouldn't be a bad call. After all, they would know how to get affiliated with the bandits if they were supplying them with the goods after all. "Well, if you've gotten over eating a bad apple, I say we be on our way and check out the local smithy..." Dante said as he got up to his feet in a joyous mood. It was at that moment, he realised how tired he was. "Or perhaps we should wait a moment. Lord knows, I could use a hot bath right now ... I'm aching." Dante complained, arching his back and placing one hand across. "Tell you what, ... you rest your head and I'll head of downstairs and find out where I can soak my bones. Plus that chick at the counter digs me." Dante told his partner, singing yet more praises before sending him a wink and heading out of the door, leaving Rael on his own, giving him the perfect opportunity to test his newly acquire power.

[thormundsson]

The idea of taking a relaxing bath somehow did not sit well with Rael and he was pretty happy that Dante had left him to go soak alone. The dislike of water was apparently a base instinct of a devil's fruit user and the very idea of getting into anything deeper than a puddle was a disturbing thought. The idea that he might have grown fearful of water made it's presence in Rael's mind but he brushed it aside. He did not fear things and especially not the sea, he had grown up there after all. He attributed this feeling to being mindful of the facts rather than any fear, besides, he only feared weakness and stagnation.

As soon as Dante had left the room Rael turned back to utilizing his powers. He looked around for a few moments and then decided the glass of water was a perfect object to use to train. He put it on one of the chairs and moved it to the very center of the room. He knelt down and put his finger up against the surface of the glass. He calmed himself and as he called upon his powers the very air seemed to cool down as he did so. Seemed like any usage of his power was obvious as it was. He made the mental note to try and lessen the obvious side effects as much as he could. Power was most useful if the enemy didn't know you had it.

He turned his thoughts back to the glass and his finger that was touching it. He focused his power into the tip of his finger and was as precise as he could be. He was not expecting the results. The glass blasted apart as the water turned into ice and expanded in an instance and a few pieces of glass dug themselves into his cheeks. Not only that but the chair which the glass had been standing on cracked apart as well, albeit not with as powerful a scene. It seemed the moisture in it had been expended to, thus shattering it. He dug the pieces of glass from his skin and thanked his lucky nature that they hadn't gone in too deep and were more like cuts from shaving than any real wounds.

He walked over to a large jug of water and got another glass, putting it down in a similar manner and concentrating again. This was going to be a painful learning experience, of that he was certain....