The First Strike in the Long War

[anarchyarcher]

Many things ran through Eliza's head at this point, from What? to Who have you ticked off this time? . However, what she finally yelled was not any of these. No, as she dropped her books and charged towards the captain of the guard was:

"Hey! Numb-Skull! Get off my captain!"

As he looked up, she jumped up on top of some boxes beside a stand. He barely had time to put a hand to the sword at his waist before she delivered a brutal flying two-footed kick to his face. The was an audible crack as his nose broke, blood starting to flow as he crashed into the fruit stand behind Bran.

Eliza had to scramble to her feet as Bran looked between her and the fallen guard. She ran back to her books as the crowd began to murmur. As she swiped up the few books she had, more guards pushed through the crowd, trying to get their chance at the 'wanted pirate'. Glancing back at Bran, Eliza yelled: "Come on! Do you plan to stay and get captured?!"

With that she dashed off towards the docks, disappearing into the crowd right as two guards tried to grab at her.

[Deleted]

Bran watched, unmoving, as Eliza dashed off. "I'll be there in a second." He quietly whispered. He turned, grinning, at the guards surrounding him. "Well, You've got the wrong guy, mate, I'm nae a pirate with a bounty, not yet, anyway. " He hopped from one foot to the other, hands in his pockets, as they circled around him, hands on their guns. "My name is Bran. Best remember that." He laughed, as he dived forward suddenly, and the suprised guardsmen fired wildly, bullets clattering off the pavers. As he kicked himself up onto his hands, he smirked, his fists gaining a metallic sheen.

"MIGU MIGU WHIRLWIND!" His drilled hands spun him around, his spread legs clocking the surrounding soldiers on the jaw, or more commonly the face. He laughed, rolling to one side as he toppled over, and sprang into a crouch. The captain ran at him, holding a pair of cuffs, and dived. Bran shoved himself to the side, bringing a drilled fist down on his back as the captain slid past them. He growled slightly, sweating. The man was fast, and if his nose hadn't been broken by Eliza's surprise attack, he probably would have been nabbed. As it was, the blood and pain of the swollen organ had given him an edge. The other guards were also similarly distracted, though this was more due to the crowds of people screaming, trying to get a closer look, or in one old man's case, swinging his cane around and screaming incoherently.

Bran ducked a swing of a sword from a guard, alerted by his clattering armor, and quickly legswept him, that same armor dragging him down onto one of his compatriots. He leaned down, and grabbed the Guard Captain's gauntleted hand. Pulling off the ornate metal glove, he grinned, and slid it on, flexing his fingers. He had always liked trophies, he thought, as he used it to clock another guard.

[anarchyarcher]

Eliza had reached the docks before realizing that Bran was not, unsurprisingly, following her. When she did notice, the swordswoman groaned, running her fingers through her long brown hair and dropping her books on a nearby crate.

"Dammit, Bran," She cursed, "You ALWAYS have to fight don't you-..."

Her comment was cut short by a shout.

"There! She was the one that kicked the Captain! Get her!"

Eliza whirled around to see two men charging down the street at her from the direction of the market. The looks on their faces showed they were not in any way planning to be gentle. As they neared her, Eliza took a deep breath, then exhaled slowly.

Alright, so there's two of them, she reasoned. I'm going to have to make sure not to let them flank me. Maybe I can use their strength to my advantage...

Her time to think was cut short by the first of the two men reaching her, pulling his longsword free of its sheath. As he swung it in an arc towards her, Eliza almost smiled.

"A swing across the midsection? Sloppy..."

She did a split, ducking under his wild swing. As he was unbalanced by the follow-through, Eliza detached her rapier's sheath from her belt and hooked it behind the man's front knee. Their eyes met - his with a sudden fear, hers with an inner laughing - she winked, and Eliza pushed back up from the split, tipping the man back onto his comrade to send both of them crashing to the ground in a little heap. A quick tap to both of their heads from the hilt of her blade made both men go limp.

Hooking the sheath back onto her belt, Eliza nodded to herself.

Not my cleanest work, but not bad...

[Deleted]

The alleyway rang with laughter down the sidestreet, nearly running into Eliza. It was immediately apparent that he was wearing some sort of metal gauntlet. Seeing as he was waving at Eliza with it while grinning, despite the guards entering the other end of the alley. As he spun around, he laughed, yelling over his shoulder, "Get going! See if the ships's ready, alright? We need to get out of here!" This was emphasized by a sideways blow to the first guards head.

Bran sent another blow to the guard trying to tackle him, thankful that the alleyway prevented the assembled guards from coming at him en masse. Another punch took the guard down, dropping him onto the other guard who was trying to stand. With this barrier in the way, he spun, and ran down the alley, swinging around the corner, and dashing for the docks. Eventually one of them would think about going around. 

As he dashed down the street, he grinned, suddenly. He cut into another alley as another group of guards ran into view down the street, this one perhaps even narrower than the first. He grinned, and spun his drills, before spreading his arms and legs, and inching his way up the wall. As the guards ran in, he grinned, and spun his drills, which had dug into walls, and proceeded to kick them in the face, hard and repeatedly. He fell on them as well, but that was more due to the wooden wall giving and his drills coming loose. He stood, shaken, and took off.

[anarchyarcher]

Eliza blinked as Bran went past her towards the other end of the alleyway. Leaving her between him and all the guards now getting back to their feet.

Dammit! Why didn't he let me leave first!

As the first few guards ran towards her, Eliza snatched up her books and began sprinting right back at them. This confused the first few guards, who saw the sword at her side but couldn't see how she planned to take them all on. The hesitation slowed them down enough for Eliza's plan.

A little hop allowed her to plant a foot into the first man's face, gaining enough height to snag the edge of a roof with one hand. Stepping to the next guy's head, Eliza kicked off so that she could swing up onto the roof.

The swordswoman took a breather for a moment, smiling lazily down at the very ticked off guards.

"See ya boys! Better luck next time!"

With that, Eliza stood up and began running along rooftops towards the docks. A few buildings later, she dropped to the dock a bit ahead of Bran, sprinting ahead to the shipwright. She slid to a stop next to Davis, trying to calm her breathing.

"Hey! You got that ship ready for us?"

[Deleted]

Davis turned, surprised, as Eliza rushed into the shop. "Aye, it's ready to sail, assuming ye pay for it. "  The simple, rather generic ship bobbed in the calm waves, tied in place with the sail unfurled.

Meanwhile, Bran had managed to get up from his fall, but he had a nasty cut on one arm from a guard's blade that he just hadn't been quick enough to dodge. Said guard was currently adding to the pile of beaten guards at the mouth of the alleyway. Bran would have loved to leave, but climbing over unconscious guards is harder than one might think, and he was fast realizing he may have waited a tad too long. The guards had come around the other way, and he was taking blows now, unable to sock the guards as well as before. Even the one at a time forced by the close walls of the alley was quickly becoming of little help.

Bran panted, blood dripping from the shoulder wound he had. He was beginning to feel a bit dizzy. He had to have brawled with at least 16 guards now, and while punches to the face and legsweeps had been effective, he was fast reaching his limit. He groaned. "Guess... I'm not... as good as I thought, eh?"  He slumped back a little, then slammed his fist into the guard's gut. The man coughed, glaring at him angrily. Bran punched him again, and as the next man tried to swing at him, he jumped over the 4 or 5 unconcious guards behind him, and ran. He arrived at the docks, panting, and bleeding from a couple wounds.

[anarchyarcher]

Eliza glanced back over her shoulder out the door, to where Bran was fighting off a few more guards at the edge of the town.

"Yeah, yeah, I got money, how much was it?..."

When she turned her head back, she spotted the sign of prices over Davis's shoulder.

"1500 beri was it??"

The shipwright's eyes narrowed at her behavior and lack of breath, but nodded.

"Yep, that t'would be the price. Ya pay up, and the ship's tied up at the end of this dock-..."

Eliza almost tore her money pouch pulling out coins. They went everywhere, as it was stuffed almost to bursting. The swordswoman blushed slightly as Davis's mouth dropped open at the amount.

I must be getting good at pickpocketing... she thought smiling, Even Bran didn't notice me swiping stuff all day.

(( Technically not acquired by stealing, but it seemed to be a good reason for the post $ to have suddenly appeared in her pack))

After a few seconds, coins covered the shipwright's desk. They glittered from a lamp, clearly at least a hundred berries too much. Her pouch was now almost barely a third filled.

"That good enough for you?" Eliza asked quickly.

"Yes! Yes, that will be plenty!" Davis answered too quickly, "Feel free to take your ship!"

He quickly grabbed at the glittering gold, but Eliza was already gone, dashing back out of the store and almost crashing into Bran.

[Deleted]

As Eliza paid for the ship, Bran came tearing down the alleyways and out onto the road for the shipwright's dock. The string of expletives that he was emitting was quickly explained, however, when shots were heard. The guards rounded the alleyway, and looked back and forth, yelling. Bran, hiding behind a stack of crates, breathed a sigh as most of the guards took off down the boardwalk, and the few stragglers began searching shops. Quietly, he sidled over to the door, and slid inside. "Yeah, we kind of gotta get out of here right now." Pointedly ignoring the glare he felt he was likely to receive, he hopped into the ship, and beckoned to his crewmate.

"Eliza, let's go, and sir, for your own good, you never saw us." Grinning, he turned away from the confused shipwright, and as soon as Eliza jumped in , severed the rope holding their new ride in place. The sails billowed as the ship turned, catching the sea breeze, and began moving out into the sparkling expanse of West Blue. Bran waved, both at the workers, and the frustrated guards farther down the dock, and then reached into his pack.

He had to shuffle many of his new acquisitions around, until he found the folded cloth he had brought when they left on their rowboat. "Now that we have a mast... I can finally put this up! Took me forever to find someone to knock this out for me back in Port Claire." He clipped the black fabric to the mast, and hauled. The wind caught it, and the Jolly Roger, a Purple smiley with a blue lightning bolt fluttered in the wind. Bran smiled, rubbing his hands. "Now, what do we call the ship?"