[Maru & Nas] The Desert Adventure: Prologue

[Nasakeshira]

"Ahh...ahhh." Corvun wiped his nose. Due to a recent mishap at the island of large beasts, Corvun once again found himself a vagabond. He had abandoned his clothing in the jungle and was now shirtless. The only thing that stopped him from going full nude were the white puffy Arabian pants he was currently wearing. He found them stuffed down a crate in the same cargo hold he was sleeping in. He was in middle of making sure his Sen Katana were not discovered. Afterall he was an unwanted guest, a stowaway. He hopped on the first ship to stop at the only port on Daijuu Island. Even if that happened to be a ship of a no-name pirate. "Aghhh CHOOO!" Corvun sneezed, "someone must be talking about me." he was lazily squatting behind some crates in the corner. He mumbled some complaints about being wet and cold, but quickly hushed up when he heard the planks creak and men talking. "This is our first time as real pirates! It's so exciting isn't it? We found our first target."
"What was the name of that ship?"
"I think it was the King's Belly. Some royalty must own the ship."
"Then it must have some really really nice goodies on that bad boy."
"It better! Is this it?" Corvun heard wood scrape the floor.
"Yeah, I think so. The Captain's special shot." The men grunted with effort and went back up the creaky stairs. Corvun took a deep breath, "I need some fresh air." Struggling to get to his feet he stretched his arms and yawned. Maneuvering through his temporary home, his body slowly began to shrink, flesh folding in on itself, his fingers fusing together to form claws, his face becoming elongated and pointed and black feathers replacing all his hair. He was an average sized raven hopping up a flight of stairs. When he reached the top he began dodging the men's busy feet until he made it out of the hole made for cannons. Hopping out over the rough waters he flapped his wings and took flight. In the air he circled the ship and searched for the Captain.

It only took Corvun a minute, proving he was getting better at using being a bird. Tucking his wings in he corkscrewed into a dive , his bird figure cut through the air at blistering speeds, expanding his wings he slowed himself down a few feet above the Captain and landed on his shoulder. His blonde hair was combed back into a pompadour he had major sideburns and a mustache, his eyebrows were thick and fuzzy. He could be handsome if he did something with those eyebrows, but they were... too distracting, it took away from his face. Wearing no shirt he only had on an unbuttoned vest and on the back the vest it said, 'Wild Wolf'. The Captain was bulky and had some gnarly chest hair. He wore the black pants of someone who practiced Kung Fu. "Captain, sir. We've loaded up your special!" Smiling the Captain gave him a thumbs up, "gather the men onto the deck!"

"Yes sir!" He jumped down from the helm, and began shouting. Soon everyone was gathered on the deck. "My beloved wolf pack! We have gathered here today for one purpose and one purpose only. To hoist our jolly and let the world know the menace of the 'Wild Wolf Crew'. We shall board that ship, leave a few prisoners so they could spread our name and then leave with every single possession they have." The men started howling as Wild Wolf raised his fist. "Now get to your stations and prepare to board." The men scrambled, the Captain turned the helm turning it hard to starboard. The waves were getting progressively more choppy. "Hoist the flag!" Captain Wild Wolf called upwards, the call was repeated and it slowly traveled upward. Their jolly now shown to the King's Belly, "fire!" The cannons roared and plumes of smoke fired out the side of the ship. As the shot rained towards the now fleeing ship it made a howling noise like a pack of wild wolves descending upon a wounded prey. The crack and splinter of wood, the roar of cannon's returning fire, the debut of the Wild Wolf crew.

Corvun flapped his wings and yet again ascended to the sky, circling the ship.

[BlacKitten]

Swaying side to side, a royal ship sailed aimlessly across the prosaic seas. Ascending and descending by the majestic waves, the ship placidly drifted across the vast ocean. From the outside appearance, one may believe that a noble owned this ship. It was a fancy looking ship that could persuade any humans or pandas to believe that there were valuable possessions inside.

Meanwhile, Maru, dressed as a cute panda bear, was busy feasting upon the delectable, heavenly, luscious, mouth-watering verity of food and drinks within the refrigerator of the ship. Having seated on the floor, he was mesmerized by the giant box of cold air that contained all sorts of food. Chicken, turkey, ham, pork, fish, pasta, orange juice, grapes, oranges, apples, mangos, watermelon, Maru had lost count as to how many types of food there was in this giant refrigerator. Taking his sweet time, he gobbled, chewed, and swallowed down all his beloved food within his sight in great felicity. Completely oblivious, he had totally forgotten that he was inside a ship in which he hijacked. Food was the perfect distraction for him, and he was the only entity on this ship that can devour the food before it gets spoiled. His stomach kept on begging and pleading him to give it more and more food as Maru was happy to obey.

While all of the crewmates were elsewhere upon this massive ship, Maru was temporarily living inside the storage room, helping himself with any valuable treasures that he can find – food! As far as he knew, no one realized that a random outsider, disguised as a panda, hijacked their ship.
Before all of the food was wiped out from the storage, a peculiar fruit caught his attention, assuming it was a fruit. An unorthodox fruit that Maru had never seen before! It was a perfectly spherical fruit, white in color, coated with pitch-black swirls that were randomly decorated around the fruit. Listing all of the fruits through his mind, he couldn’t think of a single fruit that had spiral patterns on it. What kind of fruit was this? Curiously poking on the outer surface of this enigmatic fruit, he realized that he can peel it like scotch tape. Beneath it, there was another layer, white with black swirls, yet the patterns on his layer did not match up to the first one. Scanning across the countertop, he picked up the kitchen knife, gripping it loosely in his hands. With a single downward swing, he sliced the fruit perfectly in half. Scrutinizing the two halves, they both contained countless of paper-thin layers, far more layers than an onion. Maru deeply abhorred onions, and onions were the only kind of food that he despised. Unlike an onion, this piece of fruit neither brought tears to his eyes, nor did it smell like an onion. Was this really edible? He found it in the fridge, so it was meant to be eaten like all of the other yummy food, right?

Excited to try a new piece of fruit, Maru ripped off a small piece of the layer. Sniffing it like a puppy, it did not smell like any food in particular; his nose didn’t catch any scent at all. With this info, he predicted that it will taste like a strip of tasteless salad. When he tossed the unknown strip of fruit into his mouth and swallowed it, he was dead wrong! Collapsing onto the ground, he rolls on the wooden floor as if he got shot in the stomach, choking. An omnipotent bitter taste completely numbed his entire mouth; his tongue was no longer palpable. Desperately climbing above the countertop, his hand twisted the knob for the sink. Water jets out as Maru sinks his hand lower while tilting sideways, aiming the jet of water into his mouth, washing the horrific and foul taste. Despite the small quantity, it tasted absolutely disgusting and nasty! It was as someone shoved a chunk of rotten papaya mixed with spoiled penguin meat down his throat. Next time, he shall never eat another piece of fruit that had swirls on it, lesson learned.

A morbid thought suddenly crossed his mind; could that piece of fruit possibly be poisonous? What if the owners placed that fruit there as a trap to punish those who eat their food? However, Maru did not feel any particularly difference after ingestion the fruit, besides the nasty dry aftertaste that remains in his mouth. As a matter of fact, onions tasted better than that piece of fruit, and that was certainly not something that could be easily stated! Whatever that fruit was called, it was now his new least favorite food, assuming it was food to begin with.

Closing the fridge, Maru had lost his appetite – perhaps a stomachache. All of the sudden, the ship jerked sideways without warning. The sudden tilt of the room hurled Maru across the room, slamming him against the wall, “Wah!” The unusual voices of howling wolves sounded from the outside; the noise confused the poor little panda. Did the crewmates of this ship owned any canines? Surely the wolves didn’t cause this ship the tilt…

[Nasakeshira]

The ships now side-by-side clashed, returning and dishing out fusillade's at point blank range. Captain Wild Wolf had the advantage in this naval battle, for he had struck the first blow. The howling of the wolf shot had confused and even struck fear into the passengers on board. After another trade of blows it seemed as if the battle was over the King's Belly was de-masted. The guns had stopped firing and the, King's Belly's crew had gathered on their decks and surrendered. A man dressed more elegantly stood in front of his men who were on their knees. Captain Wild Wolf signaled his men to board, "are you the Captain of this vessel." The man who addressed Captain Wild Wolf, stood with his chin high as if he still had dignity. "If you are to spare the life of my crew I am prepared to offer you everything on board."

Captain Wild Wolf suddenly burst forth with laughter, he howled and howled, "pretty pants wants to cut us a deal boys." His crew laughed to, "don't you think he misunderstands the situation?" They all shouted and offered suggestions, such as , "walk the plank!" or "duel him, Captain show him who's boss!" Raising his hand he silenced them, "start loading up their cargo we'll split it once we're off." Getting closer to the opposing Captain Wild Wolf asked, "will killing you mercilessly, in front of your men, spread my name throughout the blues?" A look of horror crossed over the captain's face for a moment, he then calmly regained his cool, "no. Sadly it won't but you will garner the wrath of a world noble. And that never... never ends well. A high ranking marine officer will soon be shoving his fingers down your throat, grabbing your heart and tearing it out. You piece-" Captain Wild Wolf punched him in the stomach and then using his other fist broke his neck. It was a silent crack, but he had been killed instantly. "aaa OOOOOOOOOOH! Don't talk to me in a disrespectful tone or you'll die!" One of his men said, "sir you already killed him."

"Damn not again." Pointing at the surrendered crew, he started shouting, "REMEMBER MY NAME! WILD WOOOOOOOLF! Go back to your islands your homes and spread my name! Tell them what I did here, to your Captain and to your crew." Raising his hand the pirates began separating the men, " That is... only if you survive my little game." One of his men tossed him a gold coin, "heads or tails. The group on the left your call." Someone from that group called tails. "Then this side is heads!" Pointing to the right, he flipped the coin into the air and let it land on the deck. "Ooooh sorry, it's heads." The group who had lost the coin toss dropped to the floor as bullets left holes in their bodies, "now you can join my crew or you can go home to your mothers and wives, but if I find that you didn't tell them of how awesome I was I will hunt you down to the ends of the Earth I SWEAR ON YOUR DEAD CAPTAIN!" One of Captain Wild Wolf's men stood next to him, "sir we found a panda eating all the food in the kitchen... uh what should we do?" Captain Wild Wolf's face lit up. He after all was an animal lover. "Hot damn they got a panda! We'll make him our mascot and dress him up as a wolf! Bring him up! Bring him up!"

********

Corvun had been watching from above the entire time, the cruelty of the Captain and the sick little game he had played, but using his Crack Detective Raven* he had finally figured out Wild Wolf's technique and style. "I think its about time I introduced myself to Captain." Again he corkscrewed into a dive, and just before smacking into the ground expanded his wings and slowed down to a halt. His wings morphed into his arms his beak receded back into his face. As if his body untwisted, he turned back into a normal human. Rolling his neck he spoke casually. "Yo Wild Wolf. I am Corvun Drayel, or Black Feather. That's another name people call me." Wild Wolf was kind of shocked, the raven that he picked up at Daijuu Island months ago was... actually a human? A transforming human! And he wanted to fight him! Digging into the pile of weapons Corvun picked out a sword swung it around a little bit and prepared to fight. "So tell me how did you transform? That was so cooooool!" Wild Wolf made a weird stance that made Corvun think of a Wolf.
"I like you already! Join my crew! Work for me!"
"I don't work... at all. Heavy lifting isn't my thing."
"Oh well if I beat you, I'll have you join my crew." Corvun shrugged.
"I mean I've been on your shoulder for a month now, your operation is to exhausting."
Wild Wolf charged him, intending to attack with a surprise. But Corvun never let his guard down for a moment, he stepped backwards in preparation of his technique. "Hiatsu Hijitōryū: Kirameki Yume no Fushichou"** Corvun's backward movement stopped and suddenly he was flying through the air towards Wild Wolf. He was going to attack with a sweeping blow that would slice Wild Wolf from his hip to his shoulder. Wild Wolf side stepped and counter attacked, his attack was like a wolf biting down on his opponent, aiming to kill. By crushing the throat and the back of the neck simultaneously. An assassin's art. Corvun recovering swung his blade towards Wild Wolf's midsection forcing him to disengage. Corvun decided to use the same attack, "Kirameki Yume no Fushichou", stopping just before he got into reach of Wild Wolf he followed his side step to the same side, extending his body almost like he was fencing he stabbed forward. Utilizing the superior reach of his sword Corvun drew first blood, his blade landed in his ribs. Wild Wolf charged forward deeper onto the sword and landed a clean straight punch to Corvun's nose.

Little did they know trouble was brewing underneath their feet, a high-yield experimental explosive was about to create a chain reaction in the ship that would send them a little more than sky high. The Captain of the King's Belly's secret cargo which he personally received from a World Noble, if he had lived long enough to negotiate this powerful and terrible weapon would be in the hands of Wild Wolf.

SPOILER: Click to show

• Crack Detective Raven(CDR) - Onikeiji no Karasu(OK):Allows him to solve complex situations or puzzles in three tries. This ability carries into combat by analyzing an opponents fighting style or a certain ability and after three posts its effectiveness is reduced. Works like Choppers ability to find weakness.
  
  **
• Kirameki Yume no Fushichou: charges towards his opponent(s) while running at his opponent(s) he brings his arms towards his chest and then when he gets into striking distance he 'unfolds' in a dual slashing attack. This is reminiscent of a bird gliding through the air.

[BlacKitten]

BOOM! Another howling noise echoed throughout the room, violently tilting the ship, hurling Maru across the room, “GAH! It’s a Panda-monium! (Panda jokes!)” Slamming against the wall, three wooden crates smashed into him, “OW!” What on earth was going on out there? If they are having a party up on the deck, this was getting out of control! After a short pause, the ship rocked back and forth, settling down.

BOOM! The howl of a pack of wolves resonated throughout the room, vibrating the floor itself! Meanwhile, the ship jerked to the side again, and the floor tilted in a steep slope. Maru was already against the wall from the previous boom, but the animal abuse did not stop there. A series of wooden crates on the opposite side of the room were overtaken by the almighty force of gravity. A row of crates, stretching throughout the room, came sliding down, colliding into the poor panda, “WAH! THIS IS ANIMAL ABUSE!”

After the series of explosions mixed with howls subsided, Maru busted out of the pile of crates that were stacked on top of him. Grasping onto his stomach with both paws, “… uh…,” a sharp pain struck his stomach. Being hurled around the room several times right after a huge meal gave poor, little Maru a stomachache. Almost a full minute had passed, and no more mischievous wolves howled at him. Slowly sauntering towards the exit, Maru held firmly onto his stomach to ease the pain. On the bright side, he didn’t felt the need to vomit.

As the intrepid Maru left the storage room, he strolled down the hallway, completely lost. Nobody was around! There was a strange door, hidden in the corner. Upon facing directly at it, Maru saw a colorful sign, decorated with diagonal lines in the pattern of yellow and black like the stripes of a bumblebee. A large bright yellow word in capital letters was written in the center of the sign that reads ‘DANGER’. It was such a pretty and attractive sign with such a bold and appealing word. Maru couldn’t help but wonder what was on the other side of this door. It must have been a very special room if the front door was decorated with a lovely little sign with such bright and happy colors!

Curious as a cat, Maru dared to enter into the room of adventure! Flabbergasted, Maru scrutinized the entire room which was mostly empty. Towards the furthest end of the wall was a huge cylinder-shaped metallic object that was laid on its side. A long rectangle screen was attached at the front of the cylinder, black in color. At the very bottom of the screen’s border, there was a small round red button. The intelligent panda knew that when one pressed a button, something will happen, and thus, he pressed the little red button.

Immediately, the screen on the cylinder object revealed numbers to Maru! Starting at 10:00, the number seemed to counting down. “What a strange toy!” Maru thought. Other than the numbers, there was really nothing else this toy was capable of, so Maru left the room. He wandered back into the kitchen, and he snuck the top half of his body into the refrigerator, hunting down some food! It never struck his head that his stomachache was gone!

Meanwhile, two men barged into the kitchen without warning! Maru peeked out of the fridge, curiously staring the two pirate-like men.

“Whao! It’s a panda!” One of the men stated the obvious. He signified the other pirate, “Quickly, tell the captain that we found a panda in the kitchen!” Meanwhile, the man who gave out the order seemed to be standing by the door, acting as a guard while the other pirate ran off somewhere.

As soon as the other pirate returned, he informed, “The captain wants us to bring the panda to him! He wants the panda to be our mascot!”

After hearing the news, Maru crawled on all four legs like an actual panda as he left the room on his own free will. The two pirates tailed him from behind, surprised how easy it was to transport the panda. By the time Maru climbed up the stairs and reached the deck outside, he sniffed the fresh air as he heard the sound of two men clashing into a fight! When the two pirates climbed up the stairs, Maru immediately jerked his head to face them, “Meow!”

“AH! THE PANDA JUST MEOWED!” One of the pirates freaked out! Maru stood up on two legs then kicked the distracted pirate off balance. Tumbling down the stairs, the pirate smashed into the pirate behind him!

Maru stealthily strolled on the outer edge of the ship while watching the fight between a swordsman and a captain with a wolf-like fighting style. All of the sudden, Maru leaped into the air and landed in front of the battle between the two warriors! Everyone gawked at him as if they had never seen a panda before. Maru threw his arms up and shouted, “ROAR!”

BOOM! Immediately, a deafening explosion erupted from below, and an enormous, destructive, devastating, explosion expanded, completely obliterating anything in its path! Screams and cries were heard, and everything in sight was engulfed by the bright explosion. Thus, Maru, The Panda, had caused his first catastrophic havoc!

[Nasakeshira]

When the panda jumped in between Corvun and Wild Wolf, Corvun saw this as an opportunity using him as a stool he'd attack from the sky. Corvun jumped off the Panda when suddenly an updraft caught him. A blast of hot air and a bright explosion. He lost consciousness as he was carried by the shockwave. Men's shouts were drowned under the roar of the firing inferno, Maru and Wild Wolf were lucky enough to be in the right spot to survive the explosion.

When Corvun came to he was adrift on a piece of wood, miles from where he was when he was last conscious. Most of his body was now soaked in sea water. He had not the strength to turn into a raven and escape from this desperate situation. Corvun closed his eyes, tightened his grip on what little piece of ship kept him a float, and went back to sleep. He lied there adrift in the South Blue sea.

Wild Wolf was swimming through bloody waters checking his crew members, their status. Some were gravely wounded and others already dead. For everyone who was already dead he gave them a silent prayer. To those dying he stayed with them until their last breath. This was hard for Wild Wolf for each one was family, a brother-in-arms. When he was done, he lay afloat in the blue on his back.

Maru who had just eaten a devil fruit and unaware of his new found powers and weaknesses, is in the same situation as Corvun. Although he was more fortunate he had a bigger block of wood to stay on.

What will happen to our fateful adventurers? Will Maru and Corvun survive in the sea? Will Wild Wolf spread his infamy even further?

Find out next time on, The Desert Adventure: Part I

END OF PROLOGUE