Guiding Star (Hoshi)

[Vio]

Seriously, why the hell is this place so damn dark! Strolling along the streets of Bravo Bravissimo, Arelya Gaille found herself squinting at pretty much everything and anything to discern any details. The whole island was constantly shrouded in twilight, as if the sun had been permanently banished beyond the horizon, and the only sources of illumination were man-made. Street lamps cast pools of amber light onto the ground beneath them, while yellow beams emerged from the windows of buildings. But wherever the light did not reach, the place was concealed in dim darkness, obscuring the features of the landscape and creating an eerie atmosphere.
There's gotta be a hardware store somewhere... Looking around, wings twitching in the cool nightly air, the Skypiean girl searched desperately for signs of a shop that sold tools. If anything, she needed a replacement for her screwdriver, though she was also searching for some more interesting tools to add to her collection. Well versed in the construction and deconstruction of the sailing vessels of the Blue Sea, the more tools she had to do it with, the better. Hammers, screwdrivers, wrenches. These were just a small fraction of the kinds of tools this world could offer to her, and she was even toying with the concept of making her own.

Well, at least the shadows are on my side... Sticking to the darkness as much as possible, Miss Gaille was making full use of their obscuring properties, allowing the inkiness to envelop the slightly crumpled plumage upon her back and hide her heritage in plain sight. It helped her feel somewhat less nervous; less conscious about what others may have thought of her, which had always been a weakness of hers since her troublesome childhood. Walking through the shadows offered her some degree of solitude which, at present, was something she felt she needed. She had nothing against Kane, though that was never really expressed, but a lot had happened recently that she needed to deal with.
"I'll just do my own thing for a while..." Whispering to herself as she clung to the shadows at the sides of the street, the green-haired girl continued to look out for a place where she would feel a little more at home. Having lived outside of her home for so long, she had become something of a hermit, her workshop on the White Sea being littered with tools, spare parts and small gadgets she had invented. She somewhat missed that place. At the same time, she was a little happy to have left that place behind, her eyes focused upon fresh horizons.

A café? I suppose I should get a drink or something... Noticing the chalkboard sign on the street, illuminated by the warm glow of a street lamp, Arelya followed the arrow it bore. Sure enough, a small café of sorts sat neatly amongst the lined up buildings, appropriately named 'Caffé Bravo'. A fitting name if ever there was one, the fresh scent of coffee rather soothing to her senses, she changed direction and headed inside. Greeted by a warmer climate than the one outside, the fallen angel took a moment for her emerald eyes to adjust to the lighting of the coffee shop. A nice hot drink was all she felt she needed to calm her nerves, and she eyed the menu on the wall behind the counter, a wide display of caffeine-rich beverages available.

"Welcome to Caffé Bravo! What can I get for you today?" Chirped a waitress from behind the counter, beaming at the Skypiean with a clean and perfect smile. A smile which she did not plan on returning. For a moment, she remained silent as she observed the prices of the drinks before finally deciding.
"Eh. I'll have a latté, please. Uh-medium." Taking particular note of the rather extortionate prices, she really had no choice but to comply to the whims of the Blue Sea. Complaining would get her nowhere in a hurry, especially without the support of fellow Skypieans. Even then, she wasn't going to get anything out of it worth the effort.
"Here's your latté, Miss!" Returning just under a minute later, the waitress placed a white mug of steamy liquid upon the counter as Arelya herself exchanged it for the appropriate payment. Or at least, she tried to.
"Um. Excuse me, but this doesn't seem to be the correct currency?" Looking at the money curiously, the waitress wore a confused and somewhat embarrassed look upon her otherwise smiling face. Miss Gaille, however, gave the servicewoman an odd glare.

"Wh-what?" Brow furrowing in frustration, the winged woman felt her temper rising little by little, half out of embarrassment and half out of confusion. As if the ridiculous prices were not bad enough, now she was being accused of offering the wrong currency altogether.
"We use Beri, Miss. Not... whatever this is. Sorry." The waitress handed back the money, giving a rather strange look to Miss Gaille. It was what she said, however, that made Arelya realise something simple. She had completely forgotten about the difference in currency between her homeland and the Blue Sea. Sure, Extol and Beri were exchangeable up in the sky, but it was unlikely that anyone down here had even heard of the Skypiean coin. She felt her face turn a shade of red as she noticed her mistake, even more so when she remembered she had none of this Beri on her person.
"I apologise for the confusion, Ma'am. I'll pay for this, if you'd be so kind as to add a second medium latté to the order?" A male voice emerged from behind her, a tall figure dressed in a suit stepping forwards and offering the correct payment to the waitress. In his other hand he held a briefcase, and his head possessed short brown hair and a matching beard.
"Oh? Of course, right away!" Hurrying to fetch a second latté, the waitress disappeared for a moment, at which point the gentleman turned towards the Skypiean, a gentle and rather soothing smile upon his face. Without a word, he gestured towards a nearby table, which the awkward engineer stared at with suspicion for a moment before heading over and sitting down. She kept watchful eyes upon the man as he paid for the drinks, placing them onto a tray provided by the waitress and then carrying them over to the table.

"Well, I suppose you're not from this Blue Sea, then?" Questioned the gentleman rather kindly, making sure to give the foreign femme her beverage before sitting himself down opposite her. His code of dress was, by all means, immaculate. At the same time, it was nothing too fancy. Rather, his suit reminded her more of a well paid office clerk than some wealthy nobleman.
Huh? How the hell did he know that? Does that mean he's been to Skypiea? Pausing for a moment before sipping her drink, her jade hues widened ever so slightly in surprise. Clearly this man was knowledgeable in the matter, but he was definitely not a man who had fallen from the skies as she had. Still, he was making her feel somewhat nervous, but his calm look seemed to banish such caution.
"No. I'm not." Not willing to give up anything about her background, Arelya limited her responses as much as feasibly possible. There was something unusual about this gentleman, but she did not understand what it was. Cautious around people in general, even this was a stretch, but he had at least saved her from major embarrassment and the unwanted attention that would have come with it.
"Oh, I apologise! I should have introduced myself! My name is Travis Montague." He stated, politely placing his mug back upon the table and bowing his head as he introduced himself to the irritable inventor, "May I ask for your name, as well?"

[RK]

Kaiser had wrapped Maestro's leg up nice and tight with bandages, soon enough it will heal and he'd be all better. The Fishman however, had some stuff to think about. First off, Ludwig was still looking for him, but as long as he was on the ship, he'd be fine. Second is the man that Kane and the others had brought onto the ship. He was injured and appeared to be in shock, he kept saying something like "They're going to kill all of us pirates." It seemed like this island was dangerous, something Kaiser could say himself, what with the old man who threw him out of a building and a sociopathic seductionist who's out for him, the Blonde Tiger Shark Fishman was growing more wary. It seemed like this is the ideal place for bad stuff to go down. Hell it's not too different from Amino Island, and a gang war happened there, who knows what could go down, this is the Grand Line after all.

Kaiser sat up and placed Maestro down on the ground. The little pup plopped himself onto the floor and begged for belly rubs, but this was a time to be serious. There was no time for belly rubs. Kaiser walked towards the unknown man, who still appeared to be in a shocked state. "Listen, buddy, we're pirates too, tell us who "They" is, and im sure we'll get out of this situation with our lives. Its not like were not used to people chasing us." Kaiser said as he put a hand on Kane's shoulder. "See this guy, this is the "Star Earring" Nakamura Kane, worth a cool 105 million, and has wrought havoc since he entered the Grand Line, im sure you read about him in the coo...and maybe me too, im not as famous as he is, but i'm his right hand now, so people are gonna know the name Kaiser Spine." Kaiser went a bit off topic, he was trying to reassure the man about his safety, but ended up feeling out shined by Kane, no pun intended.

Kaiser brought his hand up and gave the man a thumbs up. "I may not be a legend like Kane...but i've brought down my fair share of strong people...and i hate seeing people who are living in so much fear that they can't live at all." Kaiser said as he ran his clawed hands through his long golden hair. "So i won't let you keep on living in fear."

Kaiser placed his hands in his pocket and pulled out the little fish skeleton, he found it hard to believe this piece of junk was still with him. However it seemed to be some kind of symbol. That's probably why it was still with him through everything he's been through. Kaiser looked over to Kane as he placed the skeleton in his pocket again. "We are going to help this guy right?" Kaiser looked at his new captain. His face began to curl into a frown, he felt some obligation to help this man now. Kaiser felt like he needed to do something meaningful, this man was having a mental breakdown.

Kaiser walked back over to Maestro and began to rub the mutts stomach. The puppy felt a rush of glee spread over him and began wagging his tail. Kaiser looked around the room of the ship. It was dark outside, but was fairly bright in here, so Kaiser had no problems seeing. The Tiger Shark had barely noticed how hungry he was, he hadn't eaten for a long while. Standing up again, Kaiser opened the door and stepped out to the edge of the ship, Maestro picked his head up once the rubbing stopped, confused as to why his master left. Kaiser placed his hand over the edge of the ship and began to rise a large bubble of water from the dock. Inside was hard to see, but he spotted what he wanted, a medium sized fish, definitely edible. Kaiser ripped it out and held the fish in his hands, covering his eyes with his large palm so it wouldn't flail around, and brought it inside. Kaiser bit the Fish's head off and tossed it out into the ocean before shutting the door. Looking back around at everyone Kaiser took a bite out of his catch. "...i was hungry..." Kaiser sat back down next to Maestro, but the pup seemed to slither and squirm away from Kaiser this time. "Wha...Whats the matter boy..." Kaiser tried to move his hand in closer but the dog kept on moving away. "Do you not like Fish?" Maestro barked at the mention of fish, causing Kaiser to slump down into sadness, his own dog didn't to even talk about fish, how depressing. "Well, since you're a land dog you probably don't like fish anyway...Kane, what do you have on this ship that land dogs can eat?"

[Die]

The doctor alter gave the injured man a third pass to see if she had missed anything. "It'll take a bit for his injuries to heal, but he will. I'm glad we ran into him when we did. Any longer and he might not have made it," she said as she closed up Mikan's medical kit and draped the man. It was then that Kane had given her an earful of whatever beef he seemed to have with her, apparently for forgetting the name of the previous doctor of this pirate crew. She simply sat there with a very subtle look of annoyance.

Upon finishing his little lecture, the injured man interrupted her before she could voice a rebuttal. Despite his injuries, he seemed to have enough energy to be this frantic about whoever had beaten him to a bloody pulp. He cried out a warning about some phantom group of people coming to kill them and every other pirate on the island.

"I don't have time for this..." she muttered under her breath. Caring far more about the man's physical state, the doctor rummaged through the medical cabinets and then the fridge. Locating several vials of sedatives, she picked up one and pulled out a fresh hypodermic needle. She pricked the cap with it, and, drew a small dose. She then pushed very lightly on the plunger to ensure that there were no air bubbles left. An air embolism was the last thing this man needed, as it would guarantee his swift and most likely tortuous death. Utilizing the immense strength this body had, the doctor restrained his right arm, keeping it perfectly still as he struggled and continued to shout, and injected the sedative.

It worked for the most part. The man had calmed down enough to stop struggling and generally moving, though he was still going on about this shadow group of people. "Sir, you need to calm down. I just patched up your wounds. Do you really want to start bleeding all over the place again?"

Turning her attention back to Kane, she gave him her own lecture, "I'm sorry, but I've never met or collaborated with this Mikan of yours, nor did I know of her name until now. You must have had me confused with the one who actually did, though she is no longer with us. As of now you've had the privilege of dealing with Yukiko..." her eyes narrowed in both fear and anger as she uttered the next two names, "Berserker and...Reagan." The Bilkan doctor never specified what was going on, leaving Kane to pose that question himself, or at least scratch his head over how many names had been dropped in front of him without any real context.

Pulling the rubber gloves off, she pushed back away from the hospital bed with the man, and turned back to Kane. She stood up and stretched out a hand, "We've not been properly introduced. I am Lina," she said. After shaking his hand, she turned back to her patient. "Now, without making any sudden movements. Can you tell us more about who or what we're dealing with?" she asked. In case she needed to, she drew out more sedative from the vial, once again removing any air bubbles.

[Kurosaki]

A shiver passed down Kane's back. There was a draft in Mikan's old room. It definitely couldn't be that anything that the wounded patient had said. As he leaned against one of the wooden shelving units, the red head took a moment to let his eyes wander away from watching Estelle hovering over the man, dressing his injuries. While the room itself seemed very full of furniture and medical supplies, he began to notice that the Doctor's personal affects were missing. While there hadn't been much since they had all left Treegap so quickly, it signaled her moving on.

The door opened and in sauntered a very non-nonchalant blue skinned fishman with a puppy in his arms. The dog itself was had adorable brown eyes and a pitiful expression that matched its bandaged up leg. But rather than wondering what had caused the injury to the canine, the Captain was more concerned about what his newest Nakama was doing bringing him on board. The star powered human honestly knew next to nothing about pets, dogs or otherwise. He had never owned one or been around someone who had. All he knew were the basics that everyone knew.

The little blond puppy limped his way, his back right leg completely stiff.

Blue eyes shifted over to Estelle and Kane wondered if she should probably take a look at the little mutt after she was finished calming Mr. Crazy down a bit with whatever drugs she was pumping him full of from that syringe.

He really, really was hoping that she wasn't going crazy like back on Treegap. Hopefully she had enough sense to actually put drugs into him that she knew about.

"Yeah, of course we're going to help," Kane assured, ever the hero. He had not once backed down from a chance to assist someone in need so far. Perhaps it was his naivete or his utter lack of concern for his own well-being but the young man just couldn't seem to keep himself out of harms way when there was a chance he could do some good for someone else.

Conversations were rolling now as Kaiser joined the group and Estelle began to catch up with the one she had allowed to die while treating the injured man. Her words took a while to sink in as Kane stood there silently, listening.

Yukiko? Beserker? Reagan?

The long red haired woman stood up to her full height and, after removing the contaminated rubber gloves she reached out to shake his hand and introduced herself as Lina.

For a moment he was slow to respond. After all, he had already met this woman.

And yet he hadn't.

Hesitantly, he reached out his own slightly calloused hand to shake hers, allowing her to then turn the attention back to the now sedated man who was no longer ranting and raving.

"I-I can. On Bravo we started hearing rumors that they were going to come after us. The Elite. They've become sick and tired of having to deal with the areas of Bravo that aren't up to their expectations... No one really thought they'd do anything besides maybe call the Marines and get them on our asses to move on to other Islands or to capture us and throw us in jail. Well, until some of the local filth, some real well known thieves and peddlers, started to disappear. Then they started coming after the ones with bounties; killing them and turning them in for the beri," explained the man, taking deep breaths as he spoke that became softer as he explained his story. His eyes actually drooped slightly and his chin nodded downward before he sprung back awake, eyes snapping open.

"They've hired a group of covert assassins. Real awful guys. They get the job done no matter what even if that means offing as many people as they can that they even get the hint of being part of the problem on the Island. If they even get word that you all are on this Island you are all dead... Especially you two," he said as he gestured toward both Kane and Estelle. "You are... All dead if..." His head nodded downward again briefly before popping back up. "When they took me and tried to kill me it was on the south side of town near the local bar there. They might still be around..."

It sounded dangerous. Foolish even to go that way. But at the same time, there were people dying. They were probably not innocent people or people worth saving by a long shot but Kane still had to try.

"We should put a stop to this. No one should be Judge, Jury and Executioner. It's just not right," Kane spoke up, pushing off against the furniture he had been leaning against with renewed vigor. "Besides, I'm worried about Arelya... I know she doesn't have a bounty, that I know of at least, but her being out there alone is not a good idea with this going on..."

There was still the issue of Estelle... Lina, whatever her name was! Looking back at her, Kane was still trying to figure out what this was all about. Did she really believe she was different people? Was she acting just to mess with him? No... The Berserker comment made him think otherwise...

Regardless, Kane knew that they had to do something. Standing around twiddling their thumbs wasn't the answer either. Kane reached out and grabbed Estelle by the hand and started to run for the main deck. "Whatever your name is, let's get going! We're going to put a stop to this before more people get hurt!"

[Vio]

Should I tell him? He seems polite enough to give his name first. Not telling him would be rude, I guess... Cautiously considering her options as their conversation started, Arelya Gaille was at first reluctant to reveal her identity to the gentleman. However, this Travis Montague character seemed very much the polite sort and the discussion they were having amounted to little more than idle chit-chat in the grand scheme of things. He knew of Skypiea, one of a handful of near-mythical islands suspended in the heavens, and that was something that made the fallen angel really think hard about the matter.
If he's been to Skypiea, I don't remember ever hearing about him... And if it was during Enel's reign, he'd likely have been killed for some reason... Unless he showed up before I was born? Her head beginning to ache a little as she searched her mind for plausible explanations, the green-haired girl took another sip of her latté and tried to calm her nerves. There had to be a logical explanation for all this, or perhaps she was simply so reclusive that she was completely over-thinking the situation. Maybe Travis had heard of Skypiea, but had never actually visited it? Not entirely good with discerning age, her initial examination of the well-dressed fellow gave her an estimated figure of mid to late thirties.

"Arelya." Unwilling to give up any more information at first, the Skypiean simply recited her first name, trying not to give anything more to this suspiciously kind man with grey-blue eyes. His face bore a constant smile, a natural look of inner peace and tranquility that she wished she too could possess. If this man's inner workings were like a calm breeze, then Miss Gaille's were more like a hurricane.
"Hm? Arelya? Not a name I've ever heard before, I must say. A nice name all the same." Commented Mister Montague, giving a slightly brighter-than-usual smile before taking a small sip of his own drink. He seemed to care little for her surname, perhaps sound in the knowledge that this was the only woman in the entire world who bore this name. Indeed, the name was supposedly the name of her grandmother, but as far as she was aware not a single other Skypiean had the same name. It was utterly unique.
"Also. I've never been to your homeland. However, I would love to visit it sometime. I've seen a few others like it, but every island on--even above or beneath--the Grand Line is different." Revealing his knowledge of Sky Islands, and indeed his understanding of this portion of the Blue Sea known as the Grand Line, Travis definitely seemed to be the intelligent sort. At the very least, he had wisdom on his side, far more than that which Arelya possessed.
So he's been to other Sky Islands? I wonder how many there are... Allowing curiosity to overtake caution for a moment, the winged woman recalled the trilogy of peoples that made up the world she knew: Skypiean, Bilkan, Shandian. Still, this conversation was lingering on a point she was not too fond of. Her heritage was something she wished she could just abandon, but with wings upon her back, such a task was not that easy.

"So, Arelya, may I ask what brings you here? Travelling?" Doing her the favour of progressing their talk, the suited fellow proposed a simple question and a simple possible answer. Indeed, he was not too far from the truth, and while she would normally have been rather withdrawn the intrepid inventor decided to come out of her shell for a bit. There was something that she trusted in this man. He made himself out to be, whether intentional or not, the type of person you could confide in and talk to in your time of need.
"Yeah. But, I guess I just wanted to get away from it all..." Sighing a little, it felt surprisingly good to be able to say that to someone who could accept it so calmly. Certainly, Travis absorbed her words like a sponge, rather than bouncing them back towards her like a brick wall. It was not perfect, but for now it would do her soul some good to talk to someone who was by all means willing to listen.
"Understandable. I left my home for a similar reason, though I imagine there's a lot more to your story. I won't pry. It's really none of my business. Oh, speaking of business, I must return to work." Quickly finishing off his latté, the gentleman picked up his briefcase and flipped open the catches, reaching inside and filing through what were likely a multitude of important documents before withdrawing a brown envelope.
"Take this. You may find it useful at some point. Open it when you feel ready, and no sooner." Placing the letter upon the table and sliding it towards her with his fingers, Travis sealed up briefcase before standing up and gently straightening his suit with his free hand.

"If you'd excuse me, I have to get the next ship to Port West. An incident occurred there very recently and I've been called in to take a look. It was a pleasure to meet you, Arelya." Bowing slightly, the tall gentleman turned and headed for the door of the café, raising a grateful hand to the waitress before showing himself out into the dark streets of the island. Arelya, however, now looked as if she had seen a ghost. Well, she technically had back at Port West. Her mind raced for a moment, again considering every scrap of information. Travis had been called in to take a look at Port West after an incident had taken place? She could not think of anything else but that chaos that had taken hold of the island when she was there. Everything had started on that God forsaken island, and it seemed that nobody was prepared to let the girl with emerald eyes forget what she had experienced.
If only he knew what happened there... I'm lucky I made it out alive... But everyone else... Leaving a half-empty cup on the table, she got to her feet, eyes aimed down and seemingly void of reality as she picked up the envelope in one hand and walked slowly out of the door. Her usually dirty bronze skin now somewhat pallid, a chill down her spine brought her back to life as the cold nightly air greeted her face and lungs. There was little she had understood then and even know her knowledge of what had happened was lacking. Not that she wanted to know. At the moment, she just wanted to be left alone again. An unusual mix of emotions plagued her mind, amongst them anger and sadness.

How many people died? And, who exactly are Kaiser and... and... whatever her name is? Confused, her hand tightened its grip upon the envelope, the feeling it gave to her fingertips reminiscent of the folds of a newspaper. What was it that it contained? Now curiosity prevailed amongst her confusion as she walked slowly through the darkness, back towards the docks. Or at least, she thought so. It was hard to maintain ones bearings while in the dark embrace of night. Still, what could be so useful that Mister Montague would surrender it to her? Perhaps it contained money? She was certainly lacking in the monetary department. Well, Beri at least. If only she could convert Extol into Beri, then life would become at least a little easier on her.
I need to stop thinking about this... A clothes shop and a hardware store are what I need... Breathing deeply, the young woman turned the corner of the street, the warm pools of light that poured from the shop windows illuminated the otherwise dark streets, giving each and every business a more welcoming appearance. The silhouettes of shoppers were cast out into the streets, their shadows twice as tall as the people they belonged to. On the outside, people walked in darkness, Miss Gaille a part of them, shadows obscuring their finer features in favour of less distinctive forms. It was nice to be just one of the crowd, an individual disguised within the masses.

Hm. I might as well see what's in this envelope then... Slowing down and having calmed herself, Arelya brushed leafy bangs away from the eyes as she peeled open the letter, now willing to glimpse what was inside. Curious, perhaps a little too much so, the green-haired girl was not entirely ready for what she was about to see as she slipped a set of four papers out from their cover. A light brown in colour, the pages were folded together neatly in order to fit within the envelope, and as her lithe fingers spread them apart, a mix of picture and text greeted her eyes. Distinctive even in the darkness, she allowed the light of a nearby street lamp to illuminate the first page, but what she saw was unexpected.
Posters? Wanted? 'Star Earring' Nakamura Kane... 'Nightmare Valkyrie' Estelle Ridden... 'Maelstrom' Kaiser Spine... And... Freezing up, her eyes settled upon the final poster. Of all the things she could learn by simply looking upon these documents, the last one completely drowned out all other thoughts in her head. She knew Kane had a bounty. Now she knew that Estelle and Kaiser had bounties, too. But now she knew something altogether more terrifying, and that was the fact that she too now possessed a bounty upon her head. A string of expletives escaped her lips, none of which were entirely audible to passers by, perhaps not even comprehensible. She knew what she was saying, at least, as she looked upon an image of her own face...

[Die]

They were on the move. Despite the multiple advanced warnings given to them by the injured man. They too accounted for this. The assassins took to the rooftops where they would be predominantly out of the light. On the perpetually dark island, it made their job so much easier. There were at least three of them. Thy dressed similarly; all black with some personal style to each one. It helped them blend into the darkness much easier, and it made telling each other apart less of a pain as well.

Silently over rooftops they moved, their eerie red goggles lighting the path for them. Upon spotting the one with green-hair, they split up. The one at the center of the trio stopped, watching her movements as the others continued on. He crouched down over the edge of the roof as he observed Arelya looking at the bounty posters, and then letting loose a string of swears. Regardless to him, she was to meet her end.

The assassin reached over his shoulders, drawing twin daggers as he leaped off, landing behind her and barely giving her time to react before stabbing and slashing with his weapons.

---

While Kane was giving his short, supposedly inspiration speech, Lina was busy securing the injured man and making sure he would not be disturbed as he slept. After all, it would have upset her greatly if she came back to find the guy either dead or in a crumpled heap on the floor beside the bed. With that she stood up and turned to the captain. "A very rousing speech there, honestly. Not sure how we're going to find the ones responsible though. Should probably think things through before deciding to mess with this island's ruling elite. Maybe uh...come up with a plan? Though I guess you're better at winging it..." she said to him.

Despite knowing little about the green-haired girl, Lina did show a degree of concern. If the Elite they were dealing with were skilled at the Game of theirs, then it was more than likely that they would be running into their pawns soon enough. Lina picked up the Freya and followed Kane outside with the Fishman in tow. The group broke out into a jog, making their way off the docks again and into the heart of the city in order to seek out the ones behind this.

The other two assassins quickly found them from the rooftops. It wasn't such a difficult take, as they did stick out majorly, espcially the Fishman. One of the assassins, from his perch on the rooftops, drew a strange-looking rifle. He loaded a very blunt round, followed by a canister. Standing up, he looked through the scope and aimed it at the Fishman.

With a pull of the trigger, a hiss emanated from the weapon as a blunt round was fired. It traveled towards its target as the assassin removed the spent air can and stowed it. The round made full contact with Kaiser's chin, who then stumbled backwards before crumpling on the ground like rag doll. With that, the two assassin's drew their close range weapons and descended upon Lina and Kane. "Welp...looks like they found us." she said as she readied the massive weapon. "I could really use Maelyn now...I don't like fighting." she muttered under her breath.

The assassins lunged forward, striking at Kane and Lina with their blades drawn. The elite's Game was underway.

[Kurosaki]

(Note: We received permission to NPC Kaiser and to knock him out for the remainder of the thread).

"Kaiser, we'll feed the dog when we get back. Right now we have bigger things to worry about. I'm sure he'll be fine while we're gone," Kane assured as he ran past the fishman, causing the blue skinned man to frown, glance at his newest furry little companion and consider that for a moment. Surely the little guy was just glad to have a new found home. The puppy was also surprisingly agile, as it jumped onto the examination table with the unconscious patient resting on top, sniffed him for a moment and then curled up in a ball at the man's feet. It seemed that the canine could sense the suffering that the abused man had gone through and was trying to give him some comfort.

Lina, or whatever her name was at that very second, was being tugged along by Kane now out the door and toward the walkway that led to the main deck. Their navigator followed pursuit, shutting the door to Mikan's old room as he shuffled along, sighed and then ran to catch up with them. Kane slowed a bit as they hit the docks realizing that there were a few people around them that were working on their vessels or hauling goods back and forth. They certainly didn't want to immediately draw attention to themselves if there were people out to get wanted pirates on this Island. It would be hard enough to keep on the down low until they found Arelya in such an expansive city, doing so while fighting off foes would be another thing entirely. At least, despite leaping into action without a plan Kane was thinking that far ahead.

The darkness of the Island still made it feel like night despite it still being so early in the morning. That was the deceiving nature of the Island, he had come to realize, much like Mirrorball. Only, at least with Mirrorball you knew that the sun was shining on the opposite side of the large man-made dome. Here, the sun simply did not cast any illumination onto the Island almost as if it had forsaken it's very existence.

"We should head back to where we saw Arelya last. She couldn't have gone far from there or at least someone would have seen her," their leader suggested, pointing forward and doing his best job of actually taking the reigns of the situation. He had learned that in Treegap. It was not a good idea to sit around expecting others to just understand what he was doing, but to give them some sort of direction. He wasn't sure if the others appreciated this or not, but it made him feel like he was doing something. Worry was building up inside of him, however. What if these assassins that the man spoke about had somehow realized the green haired girl's connection to him and pursued her? He had already lost one nakama once. He wasn't sure he could take that again.

Despite restraining himself from running, he did end up jogging the rest of the way into the city, past confusing turns and winds in the road. The others followed behind him at a quick pace though Kaiser, being in his nature to be talkative, started to say something about how he hadn't doubted that Kane would take action to be the hero in this situation.

"I'm glad that there are such heroic people out there. It gives me inspiration to be that way myself. What do you say, fishy? You appreciate that also, right?" the fishman announced, the skeletal remains once more out and in his hand as he spoke to it instead of directly to Kane or Lina. It dawned on Kane in the back of his mind that all of his nakama were a bit mentally deranged at some level and wondered what that said about him...

Pushing that to the back of his mind, the star powered man's dark brown boots splashed through a puddle here or there from a rain that must have fallen the day before. All the while, his mind was playing scenarios out. What if someone had seen him and Arelya land and when she wasn't looking, sneaked up behind her and slit her throat? What if they took her out with a sniper's rifle?

Skidding around the corner, his jog having increased to a run again as the adrenaline pumping in his veins went into overdrive, he suddenly abruptly stopped and turned around at the sound of a loud thump. Though he wasn't in time to see what had happened, his newest nakama was collapsed on the slightly wet cobbled ground. Blue eyes widened considerably. He took a hesitant step forward, hand reaching out as if he meant to just grab Kaiser despite being a good distance away, over three yards. Mouth falling open, the world seemed to move in slow motion for him. As things resumed their normal speed, he realized he had ran all the way back over to the collapsed body of the blue fishman and was shaking him, attempting to get a response. He was aware vaguely that he had been shouting the man's name repeatedly since he had collapsed and not getting a response.

"Kaiser! Kaiser!" Hands flew up to the man's throat and pressed hard, searching for a vein with his forefingers. Fortunately, he felt a pulse against his skin and breathed a deep sigh of relief, slumping over the man and shaking his head, allowing his red bangs to obscure his vision momentarily as well as to hide the fact that tears of relief had actually began to pool in the corners of his eyes. Glancing up once he collected himself and heard Estelle mention something about being found, he realized he had absolutely no time to count his chickens. A dark figure, clad head to toe in black clothing while sporting red tinted goggles, was nearly upon him with a sharp pointy dagger headed straight for his throat. Continuing the motion of lifting his head and collapsing fully backward on the ground, Kane narrowly missed having his throat slashed by the would-be-killer.

He had no time to even give himself a chance to collect himself, however. Scrambling to his feet, he saw out of the corner of his eyes a blur of motion as the figure silently took a few steps back and then rushed in for another strike.

Eyebrows furrowed, realizing he had to bring his A game, the red head felt his body temperature increasing, particularly in his hands, as he drew on the strength of his Devil Fruit powers. The golden glow that his body began to give off didn't daunt the black clad figure. Instead, he twirled his dagger in his hand, holding back for a moment just to ready a stance to kick off from. Though he did have a very dexterous fighting style, Kane was working off an anger that had started in his gut as the fear of losing Kaiser was replaced by a sense of wanting to beat the tar out of the people that had frightened him. As the assassin danced in, attempting to stab the pirate in the stomach region, he snatched the man's hand instead and delivered a burning hot punch to his face, smashing through the goggles and shattering the glass. The figure dropped to the ground, dagger clattering to the cobble stone floor.

Straightening up, figuring that the fight was probably over now as the winner was decided, Kane took a few steps forward. This person could tell them where the people they were working for where as well as all sorts of vital information to them getting to the bottom of all of this. The assassin seemed down for the count, head slumped back and body immobile. The Captain hesitated for a moment, however, a gut feeling telling him something. Sure enough, the man's green eyes (now that he could see past the shattered red lenses) shot open again and he sat up, drawing out a smaller dagger that he attempted to cut into Kane's lower leg with. He had been close enough that the man managed to cut a into his thick boots. Fortunately, because they were made of leather the strike wasn't enough to get his skin. Reeling the leg back, a golden light was visible through the small hole before he delivered a powerful roundhouse kick to the assassins jaw, since he was still low on the ground. The blow rattled the man's jaw and, judging by the blood that spewed from his mouth, caused him to bite down hard on his own tongue before he dropped down like a sack of potatoes, unconscious.

Smoothing out his white shirt and ruffling his hair with one hand as he took in a sharp breath, Kane attempted to collect himself. "Well, I never thought I'd get attacked by a Ninja. But I guess there is a first time for everything..." he laughed out loud, shaking his head before it dawned on him that there might be more than one of them. Turning, his eyes swept over the area looking for Estelle and whether or not she was going toe to toe with one herself.

Having seen her prowess in Treegap, the powerful young man had no doubt that she could hold her own. Despite his own strength, her fruit powers that allowed her to summon blazing fire was unquestionably stronger than his own. Though her mental state had not been stable at the time, he had witnessed her berserk and how much devastation it had caused. One silly man with a tiny dagger would not be enough to take her down.

SPOILER: Click to show

Btw, Vio, since we agreed on bringing in our NPCs, Mikan and Scruffy, you could always involve them having been on the Island and come to the rescue at any point if you feel you can't get out of the assassin's attack!

[Vio]

"Fff- 'Emerald Wind' Arelya Gaille!? Why the f*%£ing hell do I have a- wait..." Clearly annoyed and aggravated beyond belief, the seething Skypiean's blood boiled in her veins at the sight of her own green eyes imprinted upon the piece of parchment in her hands. Numerous weird and wonderful questions plagued her mind, but the most prominent selection were all focused upon the poster's origins. How had they managed to snap a photograph of her face? Or was it just a very accurate drawing? Then again, she did remember seeing strange little snails in the corners of Port West's base, or was that just another hallucination. Of course, another question had her soul burning hotter than Kane's supernatural light, and that was this;

"Four million! Is that seriously all they've given me? What kinda s#!^ did Nutella pull to get that number!?" Perhaps feeling a little self-conscious about the rather low value placed upon her life in comparison to her crew mates, Miss Gaille's fingers clenched the papers tightly, very nearly tearing into them before she finally took a deep breath. The cool and nightly air was refreshing to her throat and lungs, saturating her body with fresh oxygen. She had to admit, there was something rather tranquil and serene about this place, and that settled her down somewhat now that she had taken the time to appreciate it a little. Little did she know of the dangers that lurked in the darkness, but that was very soon to change. Having quietened herself down quite a ways, the green-haired girl began to pick up on the more subtle features of her environment. At first, she turned her head to the left, having sworn she had seen something moving out of the corner of her eye. Nothing.

The dark might be playing tricks on my eyes... She thought, shrugging off her paranoia for a moment and looking back to the bounty posters in her hands, scowling a little at the sight of her own face. Fortunately, the image had at least captured her good side and lacked any telltale signs of her Skypiean heritage. That much she could be grateful for, but she was still having surprisingly mixed feelings about it. She certainly had a few choice words for whoever managed to capture that image, but whoever that man was, he could count himself lucky. Arelya at least had someone who would end up the victim of her rage, Nakamura Kane, and her current priority being to regroup with him, Estelle and Kaiser. As she took a step forward, however, her attentions were captured again by another shadow moving out of her line of sight. A soft thump on the ground behind her caused the hairs on the back of her neck to prickle and, with a sharp motion, she swirled around on the spot. Her immediate reaction was to jump backwards as a flickering steel blade caught her eye, her lack of hesitation very much saving her life as the knife swung past her neck. Just a couple of seconds flew by, but the events felt more like a minute as she watched the dagger catch her hair. A few strands of green fluttered in the evening breeze, guided by the arcing path of the weapon as it swung by.

"Crap!" Very nearly tripping over, the winged woman's arms waved wildly in an attempt to regain her balance, sending out a scattering of papers, one of which she managed to maintain a hold of. Lucky for her, the free floating posters aided in her escape, momentarily bewildering the unknown assailant. Indeed, so furious was his or her own attack that they actually managed to thrust their second knife through the chest of the Hoshi Captain. Impressive. And scary.

"Oh, God! Oh, God!" Attempting to turn about and sprint for her life, Arelya's feet finally gave way beneath her, sending her tumbling onto the street. Emerald eyes stared up at the attacker, a figure clad in robes so dark that they may as well have been a shadow. All she could see was the glint of steely knives and the glimmering intent contained within luminous red eyes. Well, this had certainly taken a turn for the worse. Again, a string of quiet and indiscernible swears escaped her mouth as she scrambled backwards a few feet, her would-be-assassin looming over her like a storm cloud. Knife at the ready, the dark figure lunged towards her fallen form. Heart racing twelve to the dozen, the frightened femme pulled herself back with her arms and pulled her knees up, sparing her thigh from the knife.

"F*$% you!" Kicking out with both legs, her white boots collided with her assailant's face with a resounded crunch, sending him stumbling backwards and giving her just enough time to roll over and scramble to her feet. Heels scraping on the ground, the inventor bolted as fast as she could and scrambled back towards the Star Chaser, desperately pleading to herself that Kane would get his backside in gear and come to the rescue. Down the dark and dim streets she ran, chilly winds battering against her and strands of hair whipping about her face. She dared not to look back, for knowing her luck so far her foe would be right behind her. But hell did she run fast! There were definitely benefits to being both Skypiean and fearing for your life, her pace quickened and only appropriate of the epithet they had labelled her with; 'Emerald Wind'. A minute or two passed by as she ran, unaware of whether or not the assassin was still after her, but eventually she spotted a familiar glow fading away.

"Kane!?" She yelled, slowing her pace as she approached a gathering of figures. At first, the night obscured their features, but as she approached she recognised to gleam of bright blue eyes and the familiar red hair. That was most definitely her captain, accompanied by Estelle, and thus she breathed a sigh of relief as she closed the gap. Of course, the scene definitely revealed a lot to her as she swept her eyes around, taking particular note of a floored man in a dark getup and the fallen form of Kaiser. At first, she feared the worst for the Fishman, but the nonchalant laugh that emerged from Nakamura's mouth indicated that there was no need for such fear. Unconscious, most likely, but it did not hurt to reassure herself.

"K-Kaiser? Is Kaiser okay...?" Not usually one to voice her immediate concern, there was still panic and anxiety in her voice as she regrouped with her crew. However, she could not help but turn around and check that her own pursuer was not creeping up behind her. Nothing. Was she safe? She hoped so, nervously shuffling into the middle of her team as she tried to steady her heart rate. Her fist clenched, the paper in her hand rustling and reminding her of something. Something which caused her brow to furrow in frustration.

"Oh, yeah. What the hell is this!?" She questioned, stuffing the poster of herself into the face of her Captain with one hand and pointing at it with the other. A mix of moods afflicted her, but uncertainty was prevalent amongst them all...

SPOILER: Click to show

Sorry it's not too great, I've been feeling ill and it's affected all my writing muse. Also, I couldn't find Scruffy and Mikan's profiles, so I didn't introduce them. Want to at least stay true to the character!

[Die]

Before Lina realized it, the captain was pushing and tugging her out the door. The doctor momentarily froze, leaving herself to the whims of Kane's forcefulness. Confused by the sudden physical ushering, she could only stammer. "Wh-wha-" Disjointed, fragmented memories flooded her mind. She could not make any sense of them, as though they belonged to someone else. Her head spun and she felt cold at the overwhelming influx of memories and stimuli. "S-stop! H-hold on!"

Once she had been forced out the door with her weapon in tow, she fought back against flood of unwanted mental images and shoved Kane away from her once they reached the docks. Lina aimed a shaking palm at him threateningly. Her chest heaved as she felt her pulse drown out the outside noise. Lina's previously neatly tied-back hair was now disheveled, with a few strands and locks dangling over her face "Stop! We need...to review the concept of personal boundaries when we're done with this..."

Giving Kane little time to react, her shaking open palm closed, so that only her index finger was raised in an attempt to silence him as she tried to regain her composure, brushing the loose locks off to the sides and clearing her throat. Lina sincerely hoped that her sudden outburst had not attracted attention. But a red-head with wings and a large weapon tended to make that difficult. Not wanting to say anything about what happened, she allowed Kane and Kaiser to move ahead.

A few seconds later she took off jogging after them. Her mind still trying to wrap itself over what just happened. "What the hell was that? Those aren't my memories...no...but then whose are they? N-nevermind that, got more important things to worry about" she thought to herself as she managed to finally calm down and fully regain her composure. As soon as she caught up with Kane and Kaiser, she watched the large Fishman get struck by a silent projectile before collapsing onto the ground before declaring that they had been found.

It seemed as though her earlier overreaction was forgiven as Kane had done the same to Kaiser, though it didn't take long for him to realize he was okay. Lina would have to take a look at him later, as they had more pressing matters to attend to. The two assassin's descended on them fast. One going for Kane and the other going right for her. The red-headed captain seemed to have things under control.

The same could not be said for Lina as the assassin immediately went for a slash at her throat. She quickly blocked his arm with Freya's shaft and then swinging blindly at him. "Dammit. I'm a doctor not a fighter!" she growled under her breath. She had difficulty keeping track of his strikes and where he actually was due to the darkness. The ruby-tinted goggles he wore did not help much.

The assassin then unleashed a flurry of stabs. Lina struggled to avoid and block each one with her weapon. It size and weight did not allow for much in terms of finesse, and her own inexperience at fighting only made things worse. Lina sound herself losing ground fast, as each stab pushed her back. Losing room fast, she leaped up and tried taking flight. Cones of superheated air burst from her back and feet as she did so. The assassin, however, had other tricks up his sleeve. He produced a large device from under his coat. It looked like a large claw attached to two handles. He aimed it at her and pulled the triggers. With a loud bang, the claw shot forward, pulling a chain behind it. Lina felt something grab her left ankle, followed by a sudden tugging, and then the cold hard ground. She quickly flipped onto her back, eyes wide open at the ruby-tinted eyes that came after her. She shut her eyes and looked away as she aimed her palms at him and fired a strong superheated air burst right into his torso. The blast was enough to melt the clawshot used on her, burn off some of the man's clothing, and send him flying through a wall. Without a doubt he would not be standing up anytime soon, if at all.

Using Freya for support, she slowly stood back up, her knees shaking from the ordeal as she breathed heavily. It would be obvious to Kane that this alter of Estelle's lacked any real fighting experience. And unfortunately for them, the use of their abilities in such a dark environment alerted other assassin's to their location, by virtue of how bright and loud they were. Though the first person to show up wasn't another assassin, it was Arelya.

[Kurosaki]

Instead of seeing the fierce Berserker standing over the collapsed body of the would-be assassin, Kane instead saw the fiery red head almost quaking in her boots. She must have had a close call but, fortunately for her, the masked man was still down for the count. The Captain pondered for a moment, considering that he might have been too hasty to assume that Lina could fight. After all, this was a different personality, right? What he didn't know about that was astronomical, he was sure, but the star-powered man could puzzle out that it perhaps meant that each personality also had different abilities like Lina had already demonstrated. And this one clearly wasn't a fighter...

Head snapping up as he heard his name being called, he felt instant relief upon seeing the frantic shipwright coming toward them from out of the dark alleyways. Instantly, his relief translated to his facial features and he grinned, having pictured any assassin that came Arelya's way to have been easily dispatched with a screwdriver up the nose or some other interesting method of tool use.

"Kaiser took a beanbag or something but he's alright. Just unconscious. We're going to have to probably drag him back to the ship though before they come after us again..." Kane explained, hands on his hips as he looked downward sympathetically at his blue skinned nakama. The poor guy had only been on the crew less than a day and had started it out by getting KO'd in one hit. Maybe the Captain was a bit wrong to assume that the fishman was all that strong. Or maybe it had been a cheap shot?

Before he could really proceed with making decisions at the moment and deciding what he was to do about the assassins targeting the Hoshi Pirates at large, a piece of parchment was shoved at his face. Reflexively raising his hands to block and then finally getting a good look at the paper while an explanation was demanded from the irritated sounding Arelya, Kane ended up grinning again.

"Wow, Arelya, you started out higher than my first bounty! Awesome!" Kane commented, clearly missing the entire point behind the sharp question posed to him. "Wonder if it was because of what happened on Port West?" In his opinion though, the bounty was incredibly low if it was for blowing up a Marine base. They would have to try to beef that up a tad.

Considering that, the Hoshi Pirate started toward Kaiser, fully intending to lift the big brute to his feet and drag him back to the Star Chaser now that they had found Arelya when he narrowly missed a blade that whizzed straight past his ear and embedded itself in the building behind him, sticking out of the mortar between the bricks.

"T-that was a close one," he commented, realizing that he had been a hairs length away from being mincemeat. Though he didn't know it, the assassin that had previously attacked Arelya had followed the green haired woman running through the dark and cold streets all the way to their current location. A pair of red eyes glimmered momentarily as he flitted from the rooftops down to the cobblestone below effortlessly and stood up to his full height. It seemed that if he had truly wanted one of them dead, he could have simply assassinated them silently from the rooftops. Something told Kane that someone wanted them alive though he wasn't sure why.

As the black robed man made his way over to the trio, twirling his other knife around and around and attempting to intimidate them, the red head braced himself for the fight as his body began to give off that soft golden glow once more, brighter than the dim lamps that were lighting the pathways in this dank and dark city. The tension mounted between the two as blue eyes locked onto the red goggles that obscured the mystery killer's own orbs.

That was when something amazingly unexpected happened. One moment the assassin was standing there, flipping his knife around in crazy patterns as he attempted to show off his honed skills and expertise. The next a mop head came sailing out of seemingly no where and impacted with the assassin's face with a satisfying THWAP before he was knocked off his feet and struck his head with a DONK against the hard ground. Judging by the way his body twitched for a moment and then went slack, he was unconscious.

"Scruffy never did like ninjas. He thinks they're showoffs." Out from the shadows of the alley emerged a slightly bowlegged older man with a baseball cap pulled down low but not low enough to obscure his rather bushy eyebrows that hid his eyes. A long beard matched his scruffy appearance. His thin body was clad in a Hawaiian button up shirt and blue jeans complete with flip flops. Kane could not hide his utter surprise and excitement upon seeing the old Janitor.

To top it off, the wind seemed to pick up, scattering petals that came out of seemingly no where every which way and gathered up into a mass that soared up and then back down headed in the direction of the fallen Kaiser Spine. A moment later, the seemingly random bunch of flowers caught in a cool breeze formed into a curvy figure and more details emerged. The Devil Fruit user reached forward and felt for a pulse along the man's neck as she turned her violet eyes upward, pulling her furry hood down to reveal her long blond hair. Underneath of her dark hoodie she was wearing a white shirt and a short red plaid skirt that revealed her long legs. It was clear if she was standing up straight that she was actually taller than Kane himself.

The Captain stood between the two of them, blue eyes wide and mouth slight agape in his surprise, looking back and forth between his old nakama.

"Looks like he's just sleeping. Unconscious from the blow to the head but he might have a concussion," Mikan said, breaking the tense silence that had formed and snapping Kane out of his momentary paralysis.

"S-scruffy... Mikan..." Kane started softly at first, lowering his head for a moment and obscuring his eyes with his hair so it was difficult to discern his facial features and what emotions he was showing at the moment. Suddenly he rose his head and chin and shouted, "I'm sorry I left you guys! Please forgive me!"

Saying he was sorry was not an easy thing for Kane. Though he was a very kind individual, he hardly ever apologized if he could help it. Apologizing seemed hypocritical when his mission was to be the best pirate out there since being a pirate innately meant you were a criminal.

"Scruffy knew you'd come back." The janitor shrugged his thin shoulders as he wheeled his mop bucket over toward the rest of the gang.

"Yeah, no worries, Kane. We were pretty sure you'd track us down again when you changed your mind. Of course we forgive you. Hey, Estelle, you're up! That's good. Sorry that Scruffy and I were gone for so long... We kind of got turned around," Mikan apologized, looking a bit bashful as she stood up from the ground and turned to the Bilkan. "And, well, you saw the assassins. They kept targeting us wherever we went so we were lying low for a bit until we saw you guys getting attacked... Who's the new girl?"

The Captain wiped at his eyes but had turned his back so no one could see his joy at being accepted back by the other two. Momentarily he wondered what had happened to David Ikito since he had not shown up yet, but he felt that the adventurous young kid had probably already made his travel plans and thought better of asking just yet. Same thing with Shisha. She had been a Bounty Hunter before the crew after all. Turning back around and pretending he was perfectly fine, the Hoshi Captain gestured to Arelya.

"This is Arelya. She helped me out in Port West saving the Island from Mad Jack. Arelya, meet Scruffy, the crew Janitor, and Mikan, our Doctor," Kane said, acting as though the crew had never been truly broken up and was now whole again. It certainly felt that way. But the joy was only momentary, as the criminals in the darkness were lurking just out of sight, biding their time to strike the crew when they were once again vulnerable.

(I figured we could time skip to us having put Kaiser on the ship but I wanted to give you guys time to what happened to react. If you want to timeskip that that'd be epic then we can get the show on the road. ;D)

[Vio]

It was strange to say the least. Higher than his first bounty? Was that supposed to be some sort of compliment? It really didn't feel like one given the circumstances, Arelya Gaille's heart still pounding thunderously in her chest despite the calmer mannerisms she tried to convey. To be fair, she'd hardly gotten anything akin to a break since arriving on this island. Before that, even. It seemed that luck really wasn't planning on being on her side any time soon, but as she scrunched the poster up and stuffed it in the toolkit on her waist, the green-haired girl's eyes widened as something silvery whizzed past her captain. A knife had embedded itself in the wall of the building beside them, its blade wedged between the brickwork as it trembled ever so slightly, catching the dim lights of the city. Tracing the trajectory of the near-lethal projectile, her gaze settled upon an all too familiar figure, clad in black with eyes a luminous red. It was the assassin that had been after her...

Damn! I was hoping I'd lost him... Hurriedly shifting herself so that her captain was between herself and her potential killer, Miss Gaille watched from over the now-glowing man's shoulder as the shadow twirled a second knife in his hand. Likely an attempt to intimidate them and, at least against Arelya, it was working very well. The steely streaks that tore through the cold night air grew more and more impressive, and more and more frightening, with each passing instant. Not taking her eyes off the foe, her green globes caught little of the events that followed, save for the familiar shape of a mop smashing into the face of the assassin and knocking him to the ground. As the enemy lay their, entirely out of it, emerald eyes hesitated for a moment before shifting towards the source of an unexpected attack. Of all the things she had seen recently, knocking a trained killer out with a mop took the top spots in both weirdest and most impressive forms of attack. The attacker? An elderly gentleman emerging from the shadows of a nearby alleyway, dressed in a horridly vivid shirt, blue jeans and baseball cap. Was he trying to look cool? Well, the Skypiean was not about to question the man's pride after seeing that display.

"Wh... Who...?" She was about to ask the obvious question, but now something else caught her eyes. Sparkling like snow in the moonlight, a strange assortment of flakes of variable colour had begun to emerge from nowhere, captured on a faint breeze and pulled towards a centralised location. Above Kaiser's unconscious form. At first, and as usual, the shipwright feared the worst, but was soon proven wrong when the petals began to take shape. Admittedly, what she was bearing witness to was still something utterly amazing, and perhaps a tad terrifying. Flowers clustered together, forming arms and legs and even clothes! What now stood there was a woman of surprising height, taller than Kane even, with lengthy blonde locks and dressed in white and red. It didn't take much longer before introductions were sorted. Scruffy, the old man with the mop who lived up to his namesake. And Mikan, a woman who was most definitely the crew's doctor. That said, Arelya herself didn't take too kindly to being called 'the new girl'. Though, really, she had little choice in the matter. For one, Kane owed her a jacket. Second of all, she now had a bounty on her head. Only a fool would leave the (relative) safety of the Hoshi Pirates now that they were wanted...

~~~~~

Tear-jerking moments over, a newly reunited crew continued on into the depths of Bravo Bravissimo. According to Kane, the gentleman they had encountered earlier had been attacked by some group of assassins, hired by the the elite of the island to capture and kill those with bounties on their heads and turn them in to the Marines for money. This made things all the more frightening for the already scared shipwright, but now things were taking a turn. An expected one, really. The Captain wanted to put a stop to it, it seemed. Unfortunately, aside from an unconscious Kaiser who now rested aboard the Star Chaser, that had meant that she had been dragged along to lend a hand. But, what use was she? She had no real fighting skill. She couldn't create immense blasts of heat and light, or propel herself at high speeds, or turn into petals, or fight with a mop? Of all the things, a mop!? No. This was a very bad idea. As the group progressed inland, following the contours of dimly lit cobblestone streets, she mulled over what she could do. Run and hide, and maybe smack someone with a wrench if they got too close for comfort.

I need to find a way to fight, I guess... But, I'm not freakishly strong or anything... I don't have superpowers... But, maybe, I can fight in a different way... Considering her possibilities while staying at the back of the group, the tinkerer began to search through her toolkit, plucking out bits of scrap metal she had stuffed in their on numerous occasions simply because she thought they could be useful later down the line. Well, it turns out she was right. Or, at least, she believed she was. Only half paying attention to any conversation going on at the time, the intrepid inventor started to screw and put together seemingly random materials until, after a fair bit of walking and ignoring her crew mates, she had developed something that vaguely resembled... a larger piece of scrap metal. This was going to take some time.

"Huh?" It was then, at that moment, that her eyes settled upon something at the bottom of her bag. Amongst all the tools and the materials she stuffed into it on a regular basis was something of a white colouration and rounded. Reaching in, she wrapped her fingers around the object, plucking it out from within the bag and examined it out of curiosity. Sure, she had obtained numerous bits and bobs from her homeland before leaving it behind, but what she now held in her hand was something she had forgotten about entirely until now. A Dial. Well, not just one, but two. Identical white shells that fitted in her hands. Probably stolen from a Dial store or something, or maybe found on the White White Sea. What were these objects? What type of Dial were they? Well, after nearly burning herself with a Flame Dial several years ago, she thought it best not to poke and prod.

Small... Can't be Breath Dials? Definitely not Jet... Listing the types of Dials that she had knowledge of in her mind, she stashed the strange shells in her toolkit and instead continued to play around with the scrap, attempting to form some distinctive shape. Eventually, after much frustration and several swears muttered under her breath, she scraped the 'project' and left it in her toolkit. Inventing on the go was not easy. She needed to sit down, concentrate and, well, have a solid idea before she even got started...

SPOILER: Click to show

Sorry, not much progression here. Wasn't sure exactly where we were going or what we were doing. Plus, wanted to make room for Die's use of the short TS and start work on Solas & Dorcha!

[Die]

More assassins and then two more unfamiliar faces who had dealt with him. At the very least, they were on their side. An old man with a mop and a girl who Lina was sure was the crew's real doctor. Fully regaining her composure, she looked up at the night sky, lit by the lights of the city. Mikan had noted that she was up, but used Estelle's name. The doctor alter did not react, making appear as though she did not hear her. Though she had seen enough to know that she too was a Devil Fruit user.

"Well, whoever sent these people after us, we've undoubtedly told them where we are now. I'm pretty sure more are on the way at this point." Lina said. She had a good point, at least it was to her. Their way of fighting was obviously lacking in the subtlety department, what with Kane and his ability to glow and Estelle with pretty much everything her Devil Fruit powers did. "I really don't want to fight anymore...I really don't want to fight anymore." Lina thought to herself. Having fought the assassin earlier was still a harrowing experience for her. She was hoping someone else would take over soon, because it looked like the green-haired Skypiean was as unskilled at fighting as she was. The only real difference being that Lina herself had a more effective weapon in the form of her Devil Fruit abilities. Had she not had them, she would have possibly been more in danger than Arelya. The fact he seemed prepared to deal with her Devil Fruit powers to a certain degree told her that they were playing for keeps, and that it was possible whoever they worked for had stronger and better-prepared assassins in service.

After bringing Kaiser back to the ship and returning to where they had been, Lina turned to Kane, "Well...Captain. What are we going to do now? I'm certain there's more where they came from, but the question is where they are, if they aren't already watching us." Before even waiting for a response from their fearless leader, Lina turned to face Mikan. "Mikan, when you dealt with the other assassin's, was there anything you noticed about them? For example, the direction where it looked like they might have been coming from?"

SPOILER: Click to show

Apologies for the brief post. It was forced and I might be able to make some key edits later. But for now I'm just trying to help advance the plot.

[Kurosaki]

The obvious excitement that the Doctor showed was seemingly dismissed by the person it was directed toward. Mikan clearly had been looking forward to meeting up with Estelle again and seemed to be fixated upon her, looking for some sign of recognition or little hints that she had noticed her arrival. Instead, she received a cold shoulder. The Captain noticed this and chalked it up again to the bizarre circumstances surrounding the woman. She had multiple personalities, right? If that was the case than they all didn't remember the same things or react to the same things in a similar manner. Of all people in the group, however, the one that carried the most medical knowledge was bound to be the first one that had figured out Estelle's strange condition, right? The red head made a mental note to follow up with her afterward to see if she had already held some inkling or already was aware of the strange news.

Seemingly unfazed by all the excitement of the youth surrounding him, the janitor rested with his thick grey eyebrows covering his eyes completely and his other facial hair hiding any small micro-expressions that might have been visible to the rest of the gang. If they had been able to observe him closely, however, they might have noticed the slightly upturned lips. The old janitor probably hadn't quite expected Kane to return in such a manner, but the young man had never ceased to amaze him in his strange antics. Bringing along Arelya must have also been a surprise to the old man. Regardless, he walked with a slight bowlegged gait at a slow even pace without adding much verbally as they carried on back to the Star Chaser.

-----

For Kane, the reuniting of a good majority of his crew was like a weight off of his shoulders. He had been burdened with his mistake for quite some time and had felt the pangs of guilt eating at him constantly. Though not everyone he cared about was there, he was still surrounded by people he was very much proud of to call his Nakama. With them with him he had no doubts in his mind now that they could take on a full army of ninjas and still prevail. It might have been the folly of youth, but he also felt like none of his crew members would have any doubts in their minds that they were at least capable of rocking the boat a little bit. That was always what they ended up doing no matter where the Hoshi Pirates ended up.

The dark and winding passageways of Bravo Bravissimo didn't lend themselves to being easy to navigate, but somehow despite their lack of a navigator they managed to get out and back in without much of a mishap be it pure dumb luck or fate especially with the various levels of stone paths and bridges that the Island's city seemed to be comprised of. At many points while walking around it was impossible to tell if there was anyone following them. The paths that dissected off of where they stood seemed infinite and any one of them could have housed someone that was after them for simply being who they were.

Lina, as Kane kept having to remind himself, asked a question of him that caused the Captain to raise one eyebrow and look thoughtful, as though he had not even considered the idea of what they were going to go from now. Slowly he let his blue eyes trail around him, as though trying to decide on a path that looked more promising than the last similar path. "Um," he started. The red head was almost at the point where he was going to suggest that they stop and ask for directions when the Bilkan asked another question, but this time not directed forward the star-powered man. Instead she asked Mikan if she had noticed anything about the assassins including a direction that they might have come from.

"Um, I'm not absolutely certain but Scruffy and I first ran across them while we were further this way," she started to say, pointing closer to the outskirt wall of the city that was toward the left hand side. Though none of them really knew the layout of Bravo, Mikan could have told them from what she knew that it was the furthest away from where the Nobility of the place lived toward the central lake.

"Alright! What are we waiting for? Let's head that way then," Kane said with an optimistic aura surrounding him. Without hesitating, he started walking toward where Mikan had pointed, gesturing for her to help him with directions when he got to one of the next pathways that bisected and could either lead them up or down. Mikan gestured that they should go down and so the Captain went that way done a flight of stone steps. The area they were entering into was a tad different than what they had seen so far. While the same dark surroundings held true, some of the area that was built onto had wooden frames and wood had also been used to build additions and bridges.

Several of the places in this area versus the more residential section that they had been wandering in before, had activity. There were people milling around. Some were smoking cigarettes and lounging against walls while blowing smoke rings. Others were laughing drunkenly together outside of a bar that was doing great business already this early in the day. From what Kane could tell based on the time that everything had taken them earlier with running into Estelle and going back and forth between the ship, it couldn't have been later than noon. Still, these guys were getting an early jump-start on the liquor and didn't look like they would be putting it down anytime soon.

This looked like the type of place that would house a criminal syndicate that was capable of pulling off assassins. While it wasn't good to judge based on appearances, even the innocent acting young man was fairly convinced that they were barking up the right tree. Some of the people passing them on the streets eyed them up and down even. Kane was also having the hair on the back of his neck stand up, feeling like they were being watched though unable to place by whom.

"I think it's safe to assume that we might find a lead here," the Captain declared, hands on his hips before looking back at his team mates. He wasn't sure exactly if they were really feeling the same need to charge into this head long and take out those responsible for causing such pain to people who technically were outlaws themselves. Being pirates meant that you didn't fall under the law with your actions so justice being brought forward for you seemed a bit hypocritical.

"Scruffy will go ask for some directions," the old janitor stated before he wandered off to go speak with some young men that were probably a fraction of his age and looked like they could rough him up if they so desired. Fortunately, Kane knew that the old swordsman was more than capable of taking on anyone that dared to mess with him. Still, just going up to someone and asking for directions to the guys trying to kill them sounded like a heck of a long shot.

"Okay, while he's doing that, anyone actually have a plan?" the Captain whispered to anyone within earshot still of him but the skinny man in the Hawaiian shirt was already returning.

"They said to check the third bar on the left," the old man told them as he pulled his mop bucket across a smooth stone path on the way to the location that they had been given. A bit baffled, if not a bit curious as to whether or not they had really been offered a lead, the young man shrugged and started following after Scruffy.

"Hm, maybe before we go in there guns blazing we should have a plan," Kane cautioned once they reached the bar where two rather massive men were standing as bouncers outside. "Anyone have one of those?"

SPOILER: Click to show

(Hey, bad guys gotta have a base of operations, right? I figured that we could speed things up a bit so I'll make this more of a straight forward situation. The bar inside is going to be very well guarded. The men inside are making a killing playing both sides of the crime syndicate. They're carrying on their own businesses while being offered protection from nobility as long as they off as many of their competition and those with known bounties that land on the Island. The nobles don't want more "filth" on their Island so that's why they're paying top dollar. I figured there are at least as many opponents inside as we have on the crew. One boss, two or three very strong bodyguards that will be very difficult to get past and then layer of normal security on top of that. The rest will just be goons if you need them. You guys can make NPCs yourselves or I can intro them next post. ;D)

[Vio]

"...But Scruffy and I first ran across them while we were further this way," Mikan said, answering a question that had been posed to her while Arelya's mind was elsewhere. Indeed, the Skypiean's thoughts were now firmly focused upon the two Dials and what they were, her curiously bubbling up within her mind. Dials were varied things, many of which would look identical to one another when small, only gaining distinguishing features was the molluscs themselves reached decades of age. The largest one in her own possession was the one fastened to her Sky Board, a Breath Dial, though even that was small by the standards of the multi-passenger Wavers. That said, size did not indicate power; her Sky Board was relatively weak in comparison to those used by the Shandians, but it still had more power than larger Wavers. The only issue was that it was hard to control, no matter how much experience she had gained.

Huh? I never noticed that before... Miss Gaille thought as she followed her rather optimistic Captain further inland, travelling through the winding and increasingly labyrinthine streets of the island. Now she was holding the two Dials, making use of what little natural light there was to examine the features of the strange little shells. It was only by running her fingers along them that she discovered the nature of these objects, small little slits in their smooth and hard bodies indicating their power. For a moment it made her blood run cold, though that may have also been a side effect of knowing that they were headed towards the danger. This was no Dial used for utility, but one that had been commonly used as a weapon since ancient times. Axe Dials. Shells that channeled air into a narrow wave of pressure, capable of cutting through flesh with ease. Had she pressed anything, she may have sliced off a finger or two, but she had escaped that fate.

Axe Dials... Axe Dials... Well... That's good, I think...? Stuffing the shells back into her bag once more, the green-haired girl decided it best not to toy around with them. However, as she regained her composure, she did at least realise something. She was no longer helpless. If an assassin tried to pick her off, she could fight back, which helped to boost her confidence a little bit. Still, that was all she had, and the Dials themselves would have to recharge after use. That took several seconds, if she remembered correctly. Observing her surroundings cautiously, she made sure to stick a little closer to the rest. Now the buildings were taller and more elaborate, bridges and pathways criss-crossing about the place and dimly illuminated by the amber glow of street lamps. The scent of cigarette smoke and alcohol was present, yet faint, but it was more than enough to make the inventor cough a little as Kane stopped and turned about and Scruffy moved off to ask for directions. It seemed a silly thing to do if they were in enemy territory, especially when the environment seemed so oppressive.

It's almost as bad as Enel... That feeling of being watched pressing upon her, the winged woman was reminded of that legendary ability which had allowed the Tyrant God to keep an eye on all of his domain. Shandians had called it Mana, or something like that. To be honest, she didn't really care anymore about such abilities, more frightened of them than anything else. Enel had been able to observe everyone in her homeland from the safety of his palace, striking down those who stood against him with his other powers. If whoever was hiring these assassins, or even the assassins themselves, possessed Manta Ray, then maybe they already knew where the group was? Maybe they were already preparing another kind of ambush? Oddly enough, that thought did not scare her anywhere near as much as it should have. She was with men and women who were strong; Nakamura and his super-heated abilities, Estelle and her strange weapon, Scruffy and his mop, and Mikan and her peculiar power to turn into flowers. They could handle themselves.

"Maybe before we go in there guns blazing we should have a plan," Kane announced to the group as they gathered outside of their final destination. A bar of sorts, but clearly not your run-of-the-mill establishment. This one was a fancy sort of place. Or, at least, that was the impression Arelya had as she eyed the two guards who stood at the entrance. But then it dawned on her. An idea. A brilliant idea! If only she could get it to work. Dropping to her knees and squatting on the cold hard ground, she started scrounging through her toolkit once more, this time with a lot more vigour. What Kane had said had brought an image to mind, and the prospect of a new invention had got her all riled up...

"Surely they will have a strong security force? It won't be easy, getting in or getting out again," Mikan started, keeping her voice down relatively low so as to not draw in the ears of the bouncers, or anyone who may have been listening to the unusual group of pirates. The inventor, however, drowned out the conversation as the group spent a minute or two discussing what was to happen. Bits of metal, pieces of plastic, twisted cables, a narrow copper tube. All these were being jammed together enthusiastically by Miss Gaille, clicks and clacks of various materials were like music to her ears. And then, standing up one more, she looked to Kane and grinned. Yes, she was actually smiling.

"Tch! Who needs a plan? That never stopped you before," she commented sarcastically, "and besides, I'm pretty sure we're all prepared for the worst by now." Holding up the strange device in one hand, she wiggled it in the air, puffing up her chest to give herself an aloof appearance and reveling in the splendor of her creation. Of course she was looking for praise for her work, but most of the eyes looking her way seemed confused or rather blank. What she held was a strange-looking tool, comprised of apparently random pieces of material that could do with a fresh lick of paint - though she did have a colour scheme in mind. It looked like some sort of cross between a Dial-powered hair dryer (not that any of the others would understand what one of those looked like) and a flintlock pistol. It was quite large, clunky and definitely a spur of the moment creation, but none of that took away from what it was capable of doing. Well, until she actually used it, of course. That would be the moment of truth. If she had done anything wrong while constructing it, then it was likely to just explode in her face the moment she pulled the trigger. That thought wiped the smile of her face, but it was not replaced by a frown. With a straight face and rather nervous tone, she added; "I... I'm ready when you are!"

[Kurosaki]

Bashfully, the Captain looked up with his blue eyes now trained closer on the sky than on his comrades. The words kind of struck a cord with him, reminding him that despite his best efforts to be more cautious and prepared so that no one on the crew fell into danger due to his brash decision making skills, that he still possessed that innate personality trait that led him to jumping the shark. He had pretty much demonstrated that completely on Port West in front of his new Nakama and now, she was making sure that he quite clearly recalled every detail of that, down to losing her favorite jacket to a roaring explosion. Somehow though, he still didn't feel like he was quite 100% responsible for that even if he had been prepared to purchase her a new one. Well, if the situation on Bravo Bravissimo had actually allowed him the luxury of window shopping, he would have.

"Oh, you noticed that too?" Mikan questioned to Arelya, referring to Kane's lack of a formulation of a plan causing her comrades already pink cheeks to redden. Clearly, he had left a very distinct impression upon all of his crew members that he never considered his actions beforehand. Well... That was all going to end now, right! He had a plan... Right?

Truth be told, despite his willingness to formulate something resembling an actual strategy, his brain was giving him all blank slates. Instead, he stood poised to chisel into a huge block of stone without any idea where he was going to make the first mark and if he hit wrong the whole thing could possibly crumble when he got to the finer points.

"I don't always just blindly charge in!" Kane stammered out, deciding that he was going to actually try to defend himself. Hands on hips, he determinedly pointed toward the front of the bar where the bouncers were beginning to eye them a bit though admittedly they didn't seem to be suspicious about them yet. "Actually, I'm thinking we should just act casual. You know, waltz in and act like we belong there. Then, we can work around the place to see if anyone knows whose behind the assassination attempts and tutoring of that pirate we found."

It was profound for Kane to state something like that. He was also simply flying by the seat of his pants. The entire idea had basically formulated itself as he had spoken and even he wasn't sure it was all that brilliant of a tactic after he had spoken. Regardless, as the leader he had to stick to his word in a sense, so he seemed to act very confidently afterward, but if anyone was good at reading faces they would note that he had a very atrocious poker face. Seriously. It was terrible. No one was buying that.

Regardless of his crew's ability to see right through him, the star-powered man gave them all a thumbs up that it was all going to be fine and proceeded toward the front entrance fo the bar. Perhaps because the bouncers were amused and wanted to see what would become of them, the two burly men actually parted to make way for the small group to enter. Though, as the last person passed, they might have heard a small snippet of a conversation that was beginning on a mini Den Den Mushi in one of the security man's hands. The escort was speaking so softly, however, the details of what he said were probably quite lost due to the loud music that was waging on inside.

This bar was more of a night club, actually. Inside, there were people drinking fast, chugging almost, in front of others. The music was indeed blasting, coming from various Den Den Mushi's that were amplifying the band that was performing on the other side opposite of the crew. The men and women in the bar were busy dancing with one another on the main floor area in manners that would make their mothers want to ground them if they got the slightest bit of inkling that they had been dancing like that. Though he had once been on the rather wild and crazy Mirrorball Island with his original crew members back at the start of his journeys, Kane had to admit he had never quite seen anything like this 'dancing'... Though, in this case, dancing was rather a loose term that masked the real truth.

It was a mixed bag when it came to dress, however. Their group certainly did not fit in. The woman in the place were wearing corsets or just tight fitting 'shirts' that were more like bras by themselves. Their shorts were cut shorter than they had been sold and were frayed on the ends in most cases, or the woman were wearing as tight-as-possible leggings. The men, however, were dressed rather professionally in undershirts, ties and dress pants though most had ditched the jacket and some had managed to somehow get their tie tied around their foreheads.

"We can probably still act natural," Kane said over the shoulder to his team, trying to stay optimistic. After all, this loud music, excited group and the action in the place was surely enough to keep them from being discovered right away if this truly was the locale of the people that were trying to kill them. At least, that assumption seemed relatively reasonable.

That was when the music came to a screeching halt.

The band looked up.

All the dancing stopped and everyone seemed to look straight at them with a hidden glint in their eyes.

"Um...," Kane started, trailing off as his eyes shot left and then right, then left again. Tugging at his collar, he tried to look casual as he somehow got up the courage or the stupidity to saunter in as though it was a typical day. The crowd stood watching, poised in poses that were very rigid and stern compared to their relaxed and wild actions from before. It was unnerving.

"Hi, how's it going?" Kane asked someone in his best casual tone, leaning against a table to try to add to the chill vibe he was attempting to project. It didn't seem to do much good, for the woman he had tried to talk to backed up a bit and the crowd in the bar shifted as several people made their presence known. There were four of them in total. The first man that walked forward was wearing a suit and a tie. He was a bigger man but not huge, but he gave off an air of being in charge and also being extremely comfortable in all settings. He was not carrying any weapons though his entourage had some.

The first person that the Captain was aware of besides the ringleader was a man that was hauling a chainsaw around. Now, that was certainly something you took notice of. He was a smaller, scrawnier person but the way he hefted the chainsaw seemed to be easy. In fact, on further examination, the red headed noted that the chainsaw was actually attached to his arm! Not just strapped either, but completely replacing the hand that should have been there!

The second was a woman who had an array of handguns, mostly pistols, strapped to her belt. She had a feeling of aloofness about her as she hung back from the others, eyes snapping this way and that. The silent way she moved and the carefully calculating mind seemed to be reminiscent of the assassins that they had met with earlier. Only, she had a slight flair in at least fashion tastes. She had on a smart looking grey jacket with multiple pockets and zippers and was wearing strap up boots that crisscrossed up her legs to her thighs stopping just before her short plaid skirt. She snapped a bubble of gum and eyed the crew slowly.

The very last person to make their entrance was actually not wearing a weapon, per say, but had a giant snake that was crossed around their shoulders. Their face was obscured by a cape that had the hood pulled up, however.

Things were starting to get a bit more nerve-racking when the group seemed to focus their sole concentration on the Hoshi team, pausing once they were close enough to get a good look at them as the crowd began to slowly clear out at the snap of the big guy in the center's fingers snapping together. SNAP!