Restocking in Loguetown: A New Comrade? (Rising Dawn)

[James Silverstein]

James and Marcoh’s ship sailed lazily into the Loguetown port. Through no small portion of luck, they’d managed to arrive unharmed. The Sticky Demon’s skill at piloting ships had not improved much since the newly named Rising Dawn Pirates had left Dance Island. In the end Raijin Hayate had business of his own to attend to and didn’t follow Silverstein to Loguetown. Stepping off deck into the crisp salty air of the large town, James’s ever present sunglasses reflected the slowly descending sun. Marcoh, the huge man behind Silverstein, looked on with equal alertness. Marcoh had been with Silverstein since they were kids and had practically raised him. The only other being on deck was James’s pet ferret, Emma, perpetually wrapped around her owner’s neck like a scarf. The trio had arrived to resupply their ship before hopefully finding some more exciting adventures. Marcoh looked around nervously. After the stunt they’d pulled on Dance Island, there were surely some people that would recognize them. James on the other hand calmly and cooly scanned the area. No one was giving their ship so much as a second glance. Leaping down onto the pier, James began marching confidently into town. Having recovered from the painful injuries he’d suffered, there was no doubt in his mind about his capability to conquer the world. However, some wounds don’t heal as easily. Marcoh caught up to the captain.

“Any plans for tonight James?” Marcoh asked, sounding somewhat distracted.
“Not much, get some food, maybe a drink and then find an inn. I’m sick of sleeping on the water.” The man in the black trench coat said. James continued walking, looking for a good inn-restaurant combination. There wasn’t much in the immediate area, and they had enough time to look around. James happily walked through town, cracking his knuckles through his black gloves as he went on. He made notes of all the turns and twists he took in his head. No sense getting lost in town. With the money they’d gotten from the throne they sold, there’d been enough to buy their current ship and still have a fair amount left. Marcoh followed James’s quick motions slowly, as if something was weighing on his mind. James took no notice. The clack of their shoes on the cobblestone echoed through the still air as dusk settled on the town. Out of the corner of his eye, James saw a nice place to stop.

“Golden Dawn” James said aloud as he read the sign above the door. “How appropriate.” James stepped inside, taking note of his surroundings. Only a few individuals stood out as being of any import. “2 seats please.” James said with a smile to the maître d’. She gave an odd glance at Emma before leading the trio to their table, a solid oak board with 4 chairs surrounding it.

“Please give me a few moments to grab your drinks and menus.” The somewhat plain blond waitress said. Looking around the room, Silverstein noticed one or two people, probably just having woken up to head to night shifts around town, reading the paper. The sharp eyes of the Rising Dawn’s captain noticed a small story on the front. Something about a pirate attack on Dance Island. James smiled and looked back down. Even if he were recognized, no one would go after him without a bounty at this point. The waitress, Miranda according to her name tag, returned with two waters and some menus.

“Thank you!” James said as he began to look. What would he have today?

There was one thing the normally hyper-observant man missed. Over in the corner, the small twinkle of a cigarette lit the shadow. One man stared at the pirate, his gaze never wavering.

[Deleted]

While the two were waiting for their drinks and menus, another man entered "Golden Dawn." A lean with dark red hair with a touch of black in it. He was carrying a sword. "Miranda!" He shouted as he walked over to the waitress, now behind a counter fixing drinks. He walked over to it, put his katana on top, and leaned over, resting his arms and leaning forward with excitement. He wasn't annoyingly loud, but his voice carried. "So Miranda, how you doing?" She gave a little shrug as if to say "I'm fine" as she continued to make the drinks. "Great! So I keep hearing our customers at The World say something about treatment, a cure for everything. Now obviously it probably isn't true, I mean miracle cures don't just pop up out of nowhere. But I'll check out every lead I can in order to help Iris."

Miranda stopped for a second and gave her full attention to Scarlet. "How is your sister doing today Scar?"

Scarlet lifted himself from the counter and gave Miranda a big thumbs up. "Never been better! She is actually out playing with her friends today. It's days like today that really motivate me to find that cure." Scarlet settled down back into his resting position. Miranda let out a sign and a smile. "You ever think maybe Iris doesn't want you to wear yourself out with all this searching?" Miranda grabbed the drinks and walked back over to the table where James and Marcoh was sitting. Scarlet following behind her.

"I won't stop searching for a cure Miranda. I want Iris to get better. I want her to lead a long and fulfilling life!" Miranda had placed the drinks down with the menus. Scarlet noticed he was now standing awkwardly in the middle of the restuarant staring at the customers. He smiled and James and waved. "Yo!"

[James Silverstein]

James couldn’t help but feel irritated when his quiet meal was interrupted by a strange boy entering the restaurant. He apparently had business with their waitress.

“Hope they don’t take too long, I’m hungry and we still need the drinks and the menus.” James said. Across the table, Marcoh smiled, he hadn’t seen James this happy in a while. In fact, the behemoth found it odd that Silverstein was dealing so well with the consequences of their latest escapade.

“He’s dealing better than I am.” The large man thought. James himself had none of these thoughts, and was instead focusing on the conversation between the scarlet haired man and the waitress.

“Now obviously it probably isn't true, I mean miracle cures don't just pop up out of nowhere. But I'll check out every lead I can in order to help Iris." James ears perked and the smile fell from his face. James removed his left glove and stared at the ring on his finger.

“A miracle cure.” He thought. “If I had a nickel for every time I heard that. But what if it’s actually true this time? I need to chase down every lead. Me and that loud brat might have something in common.”

“Thank you.” James said as Miranda arrived with their beverages and a couple menus. The scarlet haired man suddenly seemed to realize just how ridiculous he looked. He looked down at James and waved.

“Yo!”

Silverstein smiled back. At the very least it saved him the trouble of tracking down the man later. “Hey!” James said standing and replacing his glove. “My name’s James Silverstein, and this here’s Marcoh.” The pirate captain said extending his hand. Marcoh gave a nod of recognition. “I was wondering, would you like to stay for a moment and perhaps eat with us? I couldn’t help but overhear your conversation with Miranda and I think you and I might have similar goals.” James gave a reassuring smile. “I also know someone that could use a miracle cure.”

Back in the shadow corner, a cigarette twinkled in the shadow.

[Deleted]

Scarlet stood looking at the two men. He felt like he had heard their names before and with all of the people coming and going from The World, the chance was extremely high that he had. Since it seemed the two had common interests in mind, he decided to join them. He pulled a wooden chair over to the table, its legs scraping against the floor. "Well how can I deny an invitation from a fellow cure seeker? Hey Miranda, I'll just take some of your coconut soda. Wonderfully tasty stuff." Scarlet had a smile on him as he spoke. A comrade who also was looking for a cure? What could be better.

"Listen my mind is getting ahead of our conversation. I am Scarlet Worlds, part shipwright, part cook, but mostly shipwright. My parent's own Scarlet Wood and The World. Father's a shipwright and mom's the cook. So I guess you could say I got the best of two worlds here. But, you want to know why I'm here today right? This "miracle cure." You see, my little sister came down with this terrible illness. Saps her strength most days if she doesn't take medicine. I don't want her to have to live her entire life out of a medicine bottle. I want her to be healthy again. Now, there have been whispers of a special medicine that has been brought back from the New World by a group of pirates wanting to sell their spoils. This sits a bit uneasy with me, but I need to check out every lead I can get. And...that's my story. A bit long winded eh? So...what's yours?"