Death on two legs[Queen Pirates 3]

[Shin]

The emerald eyed pirate heard the woman agree that they would need to work together. He smirked seeing that they were now seeing eye to eye. Their was a bright gleam in the boys eye as he now thought, "I've got myself an escape route now but I've gotta make it look believable..." He looked back at the lion who was talking once again. This didn't settle that well with Shin. Lions shouldn't be able to speak yet he realized something.

Maybe the beast was telling the truth. He might have been the chef from before, after all he did have a few qualities. Though appearances could be faked so Shin wouldn't have trusted the creature for a minute. He was still set on escaping the scene but now he was somewhat interested in the being. Without saying anything he'd start stepping to the other side of the lion in order to close off any route for escaping. Of course this was only a ploy so that he could run past the beast with a false attack.

The wind blew past him as it brushed him as well as the sand under the soles of his shoes. Stepping slowly he'd begin charging the lion as he rubbed his hands with static and all. He was now one hundred percent ready to attack. "Kosu no ~", before he could finish the last word of his attack Shin would fall into the sand thus sliding right toward the feet of the lion. He was too famished to attempt to fight and enter fainted from overexerting himself. From the fall into the sand his eye patch would be knocked off revealing that the eye was shut closed. A scar running down the center of the eye and the stitches that sealed it shut. Although from the looks of things it would appear that the stitches could be taken out. His eye was a pale white and his face had been littered in sand from the foolish fall. 

There were no dreams this time around only the pitch black darkness from the notion of sleep and exhaustion. One would wonder how long he could remain in this state before killing over.

[HikaruShin]

The hybrid form of Carl though quite magnificent was now in trouble, the eye patch and this new stranger were planning to attack him; and they were talking to one another as if he didn’t understand the two. Really, what’s up with that anyway? Carl was completely baffled by then, he really didn’t want to fight these two because he had no reason to do so but they weren’t paying attention to that; not that the two could be blamed there was a lion hybrid right in front of them, so there reaction was somewhat understandable. ”Ya know.. I can hear and understand everything you guys are sayin..-drabun” he said annoyed by their strategizing.

Finally Louisa noticed that this lion was actually a talking lion but the real thing was that it wasn’t a lion, it was Carl who was in this lion kind of state; which he didn’t know how to ‘turn off’. ”Well my lips are moving and words are coming out-drabun” replied Carl. He really didn’t know what to say to her, obviously he was talking why wouldn’t he be able to talk?

Then Mr. eye patch began to move and position himself; must be according to the plan they had decided. Due to his running amuck earlier, Carl didn’t even had his own pans on him; those would have come in handy in fighting these two. Obviously it wasn’t possible to fight both of them at the same time but he would have given them a tough time at the very least. Right now, he was almost literally naked; because of his transformation his top was torn off revealing his well build muscular body. The bottom that he had worn earlier was also torn and revealing his legs from the knee and downwards. ”It seems I have no choice but to defend myself; I guess these claws and this body will have to do-drabun” he prepared to defend himself. He didn’t know what this transformation was capable of; he did knew though that he was able to pull off eating raw meat and getting away from a mall in broad day light; so it was something.

Carl turned and faced Shin, as Shin ran towards him he braced himself for an attack unaware that Shin was a devil fruit user. If he had prior knowledge of his abilities his response would have most likely been different but right now he considered Shin to be a normal human so he took on the defensive strategy but there was no need for offense or defense. Before the attack actually happened Shin collapsed and dragged on until he ended up right at Carl’s feet; worried Carl sat down to look at Shin, right at that moment his transformation wore off and he turned back into the normal human form. ”Oye.. eye patch, your sleeping again-drabun?” for a moment he thought that this guy was even more lazy than he was but then he realized that his fall was hardly because he was sleepy. Carl looked at his eye who was now revealed because the eye patch had gave way, the eye patch was lying right next to his feet and since he didn’t know what to do; Carl picked up the eye patch and put it back on. Thinking that if Shin was awake he would’ve done that himself.

Carl turned his gaze towards the female; completely confused and baffled about the situation of his acquaintance. He was a chef but he didn’t know what happened to the guy, he was no doctor. ”hey lady, are you a doctor? Can you help him-drabun?”, maybe this lady was a doctor or at least she may know what happened to him. Carl’s limited set of skills were insufficient to deduct the problem with Shin and he wasn’t smart enough to figure out on his own what happened to Shin.

[Vio]

Many words could be used to describe the awe and wonder that currently existed within the not-so-closed mind of Louisa McLeod, but reeling them off would not be worth the effort. The girl herself was having enough trouble putting her own sentence together as she puzzled about this peculiar talking lion, both amazed and confused, perhaps even a little scared? Well, perhaps not. She was not exactly the fearful type, though that did not grant her immunity to shock and surprise as most people seemed to assume. Though, of the people present, she was the only one who seemed remotely flabbergasted by something truly extraordinary.
"Well, my lips are moving and words are coming out-drabun." The lion replied, the look on its golden face ever so similar to the look of confusion worn by other men. To be fair, the situation definitely warranted that sort of expression, for ever the Piktish lass herself allowed it to keep a hold of her own face. Amongst the confusion, the man with the eye patch began to make his move, shuffling around to the rear of the beast and preparing himself to launch an assault. It was somewhat unfortunate that the maned monster in man's clothing had already spotted his actions, readying itself into a defensive stance not too dissimilar from that of a human.

Maybe... Maybe it's not hungry? Maybe it's just scared? Bah, who am Ah kiddin'? I don't know anythin' aboot lions... It was an unusual trail of thought to be having at this moment, that was for certain. But of the many animals she had experienced back home, they at least shared similar behaviour. Chickcharneys - large flightless owls that climbed the trees - tended to remain still and ruffle their feathers when they felt threatened. They only attacked when they felt they were being threatened, unless they were hungry, in which case though could be quite ferocious. Still, comparing a bird to a big cat was perhaps not as accurate as Miss McLeod would have thought it.
"Kosu no...!" Dashing forwards through the sands of the beach, the fellow with the eye patch managed to cover about half the distance between himself and his target before falling face first into the sand. His body slipped across the soft grain, coming to a halt just inches away from the peculiar lion. Motionless, the young man lay there, the lion looking down at him. Reacting as quickly as she could, the redhead moved in, ready to strike the beast should it have tried to retaliate against the failed attack. That, however, was not what happened. Indeed, Louisa stopped after barely even a couple of steps, her sea-coloured eyes widening in amazement as something truly extraordinary occurred.

"Oye... Eye patch, you're sleeping again-drabun?" It was during this sentence that the lion changed, squatting down by the fallen fellow. His golden fur seemed to withdraw, his man disappearing and becoming normal hair. What was once a talking lion was now just your average, if a little tatty-looking man. And the girl had thought the creatures on her homeland were weird? Now she was face to face with a man who could turn into a lion! Or, was that the other way around? A lion that could turn into a man? Of course, she had never so much as heard of Devil Fruit, but now she was in the presence of men that had been both blessed and cursed by them.
"A'right... Now, Ah really have seen everything!" Mumbling to herself as she stood there in the sand, the woman dressed in tartan was not entirely sure whether or not approaching these men had been a good idea. Of course, she knew it was too late to have turned back, but she was having some difficulty in believing what her eyes had just seen. She watched as the former 'King of the Jungle' returned the eye patch to the face of the fallen, gaze then turning towards her and asking her for help. At first, she hesitated, but a sense of morality overcame her and spurred her into action. Not that she knew anything about medicine aside from the absolute basics of first aid.

"Eh? Ah have no idea what's wrong with him! Ah'm no doctor! What's wrong with-" Snapping a little, the woman's words were interrupted by a distinctive sound emerging from the body of the unconscious male. A low rumbling and gurgling sound that everyone would hear at some point in their lifetime, and the musical maiden was certainly no stranger to it either. Smiling a little, her uneasy grin defining the freckles on her face, Louisa looked towards the lion-man while gently rubbing her back of her own head.
"That sound? Ah know that'un! We should take him to a bar or somethin', get him somethin' to ate! Thar's gotta be a bar in town, right? Help meh carry him!" Realising that the strangers perhaps did not mean any harm at all, the loud-spoken lass approached the body of their fallen comrade and prepared to lift him up, resting an arm over her shoulders and gesturing for the other to do the same. Perhaps not the wisest move she could make, not that she really considered any danger at this moment in time, but she had the distinct feeling that neither of them meant any harm. Maybe it had all been a big misunderstanding? That was likely...

SPOILER: Click to show

This is getting difficult at times to post, especially as I'm still trying to get to grips with Louisa's character. So, sorry if this lacks quality. I reckon we can do a short time skip and get to the bar or whatever, as planned? I dunno.

[HikaruShin]

”Seen everything? Pfft, as if. You have yet to see me cooking and then taste it too-drabun”. Yes, Carl was quite proud of his cooking that’s because he poured his heart and soul into it. Some may even argue that it was his distinguishing and only useful trait. Of course, at the time Carl thought so he wasn’t thinking about his newly acquired devil fruit. He had yet to get used to that and it had only been a day so slipping out of his mind wasn’t unusual. Not that it was something trivial, he just didn’t care that much about it.

So the puzzle was solved, ‘eye-patch’ had lost consciousness because he was extremely hungry. The situation was quite convenient for Shin since a chef who had worked in Baratie was right there. ”We don’t need no bar to feed em, all we need is a chef and some ingredients-drabun. Chef?.. Carl pointed his left thumb towards himself by bending his arm. ..check-drabun. Now all we need is food and the sea is right there-drabun. I’ll go get some fish-drabun” . Having no prior knowledge about the weakness of devil fruit, Carl jumped into the sea without a care in the world. The result was quiet obvious, he ended up as a rock and drifted along with the waves, until finally mother nature took pity on him and hurled him back into the beach. ”Well that was no fun, to the bar then-drabun”.

She had asked Carl to help her take ‘eye-patch’ to the bar. However, he didn’t need help in carrying Shin. After all, he was tall and muscular even without the devil fruit. It would have been an easy task to carry someone with Shin’s build. He picked him up on his shoulders and began walking alongside the stranger, if she chose to come along; heading towards the bar. Due to the condition Shin was in, he did his best to get to the local bar as soon as he could manage. Just as soon as he barged in, he made his presence known. ”Hungry man and chef coming through-drabun”, all of the people in the bar were now looking at the source of this loud sound. He walked in and carefully made Shin sit on the chair, then he picked up a jug of water and poured its contents on Shin’s face. ”Oi, wake up eye patch! Food’s on its way-drabun!” , he turned to look at the waiter. The waiter brought along some bread, Carl did his best to feed the unconscious pirate. After that he asked for meat and other nutrients that would prove useful for Shin. Somehow, he managed to feed Shin and the task of feeding him was over.

”Now all he needs is rest, right-drabun?” he asked the stranger from before with an inquisitive look on his face. Just so to confirm that it was in fact the right thing to do. Considering the situation, being a chef he had already performed his duty. Not that he cared or knew what duty was, he wasn’t one of those rigid and boring responsible types anyway.

[Vio]

The following series of events flew by rather quickly, though it may have simply been because Louisa McLeod was somewhat confused about the entire situation. Sure, she came from a land that had its countless quirks, but some of the things she had experienced here were already drastically dwarfing the awe and wonder of the Pikt Archipelago. Indeed, the strange lion-man seemed rather proud of his supposed cooking skills, even more so in his ability to gather the necessary ingredients to provide a meal to the passed out eye-patch-wearing male. Of course, as the peculiar chef headed into the sea to catch fish, something was not entirely right.

"Ye better nae be drownin' an me!" Tapping her foot rhythmically in the soft sand, arms folded against her chest, the Piktish lass stared into the sea for a minute or two before the figure of the chef finally washed up on the beach. Not the most graceful return imaginable, but it did scream something to her. This man could not swim, which was something of a hindrance considering the world was mostly covered in vast blue oceans. But even as she glared it him, not at all impressed with his time wasting antics, he seemed to shrug it off quite quickly. With all that over, the two ventured back into civilisation, the sun still bearing down from the clear blue skies even as the shadows of the evening began to approach from across the distant horizon.

"Hungry man and chef coming through-drabun!" Carl announced, barging through the door of the first available tavern. Close behind Louisa stayed, at least willing enough to see this through to the end. She couldn't just offer to help and the abandon them, could she? No, she had been brought up better. In a land where tensions between clans were rather high, sticking together was an important factor in everyday life. It was friendliness and charity that helped to keep the Pikt Archipelago stable, not to mention some strict law enforcement that could turn the burliest of men into cowering babies over night. That aside, the redhead sat there beside the half-conscious Shin, still tapping her foot gently upon the floor as she watched the 'chef' do his best to feed the weakened man. Force feeding pretty much summed up what she was seeing but, for once, she decided it best not to say anything. To be fair, she was not the only one watching and after seeing the cripple swallow some of the more nutritious foodstuffs, she got up from her seat and started to approach the bar.

"Now all he needs is rest, right-drabun?" The chef asked, looking towards the musician with inquisitive eyes. She replied with a nod.

"Aye, that's right. Ah think he'll need time tae recover now tha' his belly's full! Hold an a sec." Turning away from the rather abrupt chef and the now fed fellow, Miss McLeod stood at the bar and gave the bartender a quick wave. A man of tall stature and moderate build with dark hair and narrow eyes looked at her, his hands in the process of polishing off a large glass tankard. The smallest of moustaches rested upon his top lip, the rest of his dark facial hair forming a frame around his mouth.

"What can I do for you, Miss?" He asked in a deep, baritone voice. Crisp and clear were his words as he set down the tankard upon the shelf behind the bar, the vessel taking pride of place amongst and assortment of alcoholic beverages and other intricate glassware. Indeed, the size of some of the mugs reminded her of the bars of her home, but the vast majority were rather small in comparison.

"'Scuse meh? This is an Inn, right? Have ye got a room or two we can rent fur the night?" Inquired the young woman, not entirely certain of whether or not she had read the sign correctly upon entering the establishment. Either way, it was too late now, and she was forthright enough to put any trivial worries to the back of her mind. Indeed, she was already wondering whether or not this was a good opportunity to put the local ales to the test. Indeed, the men at the bar who were not either eyeing her of looking curiously towards her companions were in the process of downing their own beers. The scent of alcohol was rich to them, but to her it was mild. She barely even noticed it, really, despite the wall of odour she had walked through as she passed the threshold of the bar. It seemed more like the scent was coming from the men than the liquids they were consuming.

"Hm? Oh. Yes! You're with those two, right?" Barkeep questioned, pointing subtly towards the bizarre chef and company with a well manicured finger. A friendly nod indicated the facts, and the gentleman's lips curled slightly as if he were losing himself to deepest thoughts. That kind of expression usually meant something was wrong; that a request could not be completely fulfilled. Curiously, she raised an eyebrow, but she soon received her response. "Well, I've only got one more room available, and it's only a single... I suppose there's a two-bedder that hasn't been checked in yet? Couple of guys rented it out this mornin', but neither of 'em have come back yet and paid in full. If they aren't back in a couple hours, the room's free again, so you can have that one?"

"Oh? Thank ye very much! Hm. We'll take tha single 'un now, if ye don't mind? The bloke with tha eye-patch needs tae get a bit o' rest!" Things were looking up a bit for the unlikely trilogy. Now that Shin was fed, he would soon regain his energy if he was allowed to rest for a few hours. A good night's sleep and he'd be right as rain! At least, that was what Louisa assumed. She really had little idea about the science of the human body. Food was food, sleep was sleep. Generally the two were very important and went hand in hand when it came to survival. Drink was an important factor in vitality as well, a thought which then begged the question as she scrounged up enough beri to pay for the single room.

"Oi! Here's tha key. Ah got us a room fer 'eye-patch' tae sleep in fer tha night!" She shouted, now having purchased the room. She hurled the key over to the chef before turning back to the serving gentleman.

"Also, what's tha strongest ye got?" Quizzed the girl, giving a quick glance over the assortment of ales that lined the racks behind the bar. Wines, spirits, ciders and all. There was a veritable selection of brews, and the question 'pick your poison' had never been quite so difficult to answer. The bartender gave her a curious look, perhaps a little shocked that she would be asking such a question. Little did he know the gift she possessed when it came to alcohols...

[Blaka]

While Carl and Louisa were carrying her poor shipwright to the inn, Melosa was eating herself through all sorts of delicious food the Shinobi villagers brought her.

Her confusion in the overall situation had to be set aside for the meal, she hadn't eaten anything that good since her departure from home. She was still sitting in front of mayor Shizhang while villagers were rushing in and out of the room as fast as they could bringing food and removing dirty dishes.
The fine manners she usually brought to the table were completely gone, she was too focused on getting the food inside her stomach. There was no way she could have paid attention to slurping.

After two bowls of Ramen, three pieces of cake, a whole Steak and a deliciously creamy soup, she was finally satiated. The last of the villagers left the door with an empty plate. Instantly, her mind was able to focus on regular things.

"That was good, thank you." The pirate princess bowed her head a little in gratitude. The yellow feather-crown in her hair rustled a little.

"You are welcome, mylady.", responded the old mayor. "You must be tired from the journey. A bed has been prepared for you."

How did that happen? Melosa had neither noticed that Shizang gave the order to make food for the guest nor prepare a place to sleep. These people had to be able to communicate through the most subtle signs. While it was certainly convenient, she was a little creeped out by it. For whatever reason it made her feel like she was missing something important. Oh, right. Why would she want to stay, she had to find Shin!

Just as she was about to voice her concerns, she noticed a determined grim look hush over the red hill's face before it returned to a friendly smile again. Her mouth shut again. Obviously these people weren't just going to let her go. Their existence depended on protecting her. After thinking for a moment, she chose to start off differently:
"So this Abejorro person, who is that? I don't know any people affiliated with Rokkakku, I'm having a hard time imagining someone would do a deal like this without knowing me."

The old man stood up in response. Despite the relatively minor difference this made in terms of his height, it still showed that this was important to him.
"Abejorro is a powerful economic entity in the South Blue. Rokkakku receives most of its resources from her company. Before our deal with her, we had to send people out on missions, gathering supplies and information about the outside world. We rand the risk of getting discovered. With this deal, all of that is over! Villagers pick the wares up at the harbor and that's it!"
Shizang's brittle voice was getting louder and louder. So much so, that Melosa wondered how his old lungs could even hold that much air.
"No more risking lifes for mundane nuisances. We had this deal for over a decade. Kids like Bendan, who you met earlier, apologies..."
Just as he mentioned Bendan, the old man's voice collapsed. For a moment he was just staring at Melosa with the same serious face, not moving an inch. A few seconds passed. Melosa didn't dare to say anything, likely the man had overstrained himself with this passioned speech.

"AHEM!" Out of nowhere the Shinobi leader coughed the loudest cough the young pirate in front of him had ever heard, almost making her fall off her seat cushion. Then he proceeded to stand still again.
"A..are you alright, sir?" Melosa asked cautiously. Hesitant to move, she just stayed put on her cushion. The leader of the village dying while she was alone with him could really be unpleasant.
Instead of dying, the red hill continued as if nothing happened. In the same volume as before no less.
"...grew up with the knowledge that once the pirate Queen B. Melosa would come here, we had to do everything in our power to protect her from any harm! We will not just let you go run into the arms of the authorities. You will stay here as long as you need to!"

Full of expectation, as if he was proud of his awesome speech, the tattered old face looked at its guest. Melosa was speechless. Whatever she just witnessed couldn't be a good thing, neither for her not for the village. Obviously Shizang had abandoned his earlier submissive attitude after calculating the chances of Melosa just breaking out. And in that obviously he miscalculated his own ability.

After a moment of akward silence, he sat down again.
"Aren't you going to respond?"

Melosa still looked at him, unsure of what to say, her mouth half-open. Then she slowly shook her head.
"You can't hold me here, I can look out for myself. No hard feelings but I can look out for myself, thanks." She had the intention of finally getting up and leaving, maybe even draw her swords if she had to. Yet, the moment she said so, her body gave in. All of her muscles suddenly stopped working and she fell to the left, her head landing on another cushion. Simultaneously, she became extremely tired. All the exertions of today seemed to pay off at the same time.

Shizang was standing over her, his voice extremely loud and weirdly distorted in her ears
"Don't worry this is just a tranquilizer in your meal, a plan that also has been protocol since we made our contract. You can look out for yourself? We could have just as easily killed you, you know? Sleep now. Tomorrow we will begin to teach you how to protect yourself. As if we want to look out for you until you die.."

That was the last thing Melosa heard before her eyes shut.

[Shin]

The sun was rising and slowly breaking the horizon. The light from the view shot rays inside of the bedroom through the small window, the light slowly inching upward until it stopped on the face of the young pirate.

Slowly the young man would manage to wrench his eye open from his slumber, only to get a hand full of light right in his eye. He winced from the pain of his eye readjusting to the sudden change in the mellow room. . . A thought soon enough crossed the young lads mind, "What am I doing in a bedroom? How the hell did I even get here!" Shin's thoughts got the best of him as he slowly attempted to come to terms of his recent encounter. The first thing he'd remember would be the the talking lion followed by the young woman who seemed to be chasing it. After those two factors played out he'd remember nothing more but losing his footing and falling and now he was here... Wherever here was at the moment.

The pirate rose up from the bed and slid his legs to the side where he'd make contact with the floor boards. Taking his right hand Shin would rub his eye and release an unearthly yawn that carried through the halls. "Wait a minute....", Shin quickly stood up and looked at himself. He'd reach into each pocket to make sure that he still had the items that were on his person in the first place. "Nothing was taken from me? I suppose that one of the two from the other day brought me to this place." The pirate took a hand and rubbed the back of his neck slowly before releasing a light sigh. A eye wandered to the door which most likely led to the tavern since the others led to a closet and a bathroom.

Placing a hand on the handle Shin pressed his ear to the door to here outside before leaving the so called 'safety' of the room. From his position, Shin could hear the people who were in the bar. The voices were loud and some seeming drunken already.

The voices themselves were bad as is but to make matters worse, a pungent stench seeped in through the cracks of the door. Shin immediately moved away from the door and covered his nose momentarily. Out of everything that he'd smelt in his life, this one had to be one of the worse. The scent didn't even seem to be coming from the drinks, it was more like it had been coming from odors emitted from the people who had visited.

Removing his hand from the lower portion of his face, Shin would walk back to the door and open it.

Outside of the room he could see a few more doors, probably to some other rooms, that lined the wall. He'd glance to the left of the hall and then to the right before deciding which way lead to the bar. The fog of odor seeped into the hall as the young man neared the end of the walkway. He'd make a quick left and come to face the bar. The people were cheering and drinking to the point that anyone would be sick from just watching them take so much in.

He took another look over until he caught a view of the bar where he'd take a seat and be content that it was further away from those who were seated at any given table. Taking a breath of what little 'fresh' air that was available at the bar he'd look over toward the bartender and waved him over. The man moved slowly toward him which made Shin a little impatient but upon arriving the tension building up inside of him decreased. The bartender looked him over and then asked, "Something you'd like? I could suggest the~," before saying much else the man chuckled and looked over Shin once more.

"No doubting it, you're the lad from the other day. You're lucky to have some pals like that looking out for ya. If it weren't for the two of em you'd probably be out somewhere dead." The man erupted in a short laughter before he calmed down once more. Shin frowned momentarily, "Could he be talking about Melosa? If so then..." Shin rose a brow and began to bombard the man with questions, "Wait, friend?! Where is the person? Was it a girl!? Come on I can't waste anymore time!" 

The man sighed while extending his index finger toward Shin, letting him know to stop with the questions. "First of lad, I said 'friends' not 'friend'. Second yes one was a girl, the other was a boy, and third! The girl is steal here." The bartender pointed down the bar stools to a girl who was seated and leaning over the bar, it appeared that she may be asleep. Though in his mind Shin couldn't fathom how she would be able to sleep in a place with such an odor drifting down the halls of the establishment.

Walking down closer to her Shins face would become sour and the color on his face would flush into a pale state. "That's not Melosa at all..... That's the girl from the other day! What if she's still ticked off about yesterday and just brought me here so she could take me to authorities or something?" Shin quit thinking about what she might say and tapped her on the shoulder, "Hey you awake?" The young man tapped here on the shoulder continuously in hopes that she would wake from whatever dreams she was currently having.

With the amount of poking being administered Shin called for the bartender, "Hey could you get me a glass of water as well as the best dish that you guys have to offer. That is, if you don't mind it." The man folded his arms and nodded slightly while heading to the back to prepare the requested dish as well as the water he asked for.

[HikaruShin]

”Okay now where this room-drabun?” inquired Carl as he took the key from the stranger lady. Until now he hadn’t even asked for her name and neither had she asked for his. Carl once again picked up his unconscious acquaintance and took him to the room after understanding the directions for the bartender. Finally after putting ‘eye-patch’ to bed he walked out of the room, closing the door behind him. Right then he noticed the stinging feeling in his nose. Until now, he hadn’t noticed that his nose was burning because of the smell. Being a chef, he did have a sensitive nose, just like any other chef.

Suddenly his legs gave way and he fell to his knees because of the stench. It became unbearable for him, as he had been in the smelly place for far too long. Carl mustered up his strength and dragged his feet back to where the lady was. Upon arriving he noticed that she was busy drinking and so Carl pulled his tall body out of the bar. He walked across the street and sat down on a bench. The fresh air began to soothe his nostrils and his troubled sense of smell began to return to normal. It appeared that he wouldn’t be able to stay the night in the inn but he couldn’t just leave someone he knew like this. ”Oh well, I’ll sleep here then-drabun”, well he never was used to a leisurely lifestyle anyways. He spent the night on the bench from across the bar, the smell was still there but not that intense and if he focused he could hear what was going on inside.

Sleeping outside, on the bench wasn’t exactly a memorable experience for Carl. After deciding to sleep he noticed that he was too tall for the bench, so he had to decide whether his head or his legs would be hanging out. He decided on putting his head on the bench and lefts his legs to hang outside. After he closed his eyes for about half an hour, a friendly neighborhood dog came to visit. The dog was sure friendly since he first licked the tall man’s feet and after that licked his face, which eventually woke him up. Not only was the dog friendly but he also was persistent since it took Carl quite a few attempts to figure out: how to get rid of him. Even though he was lazy and sleeping was his second favorite thing to do, he didn’t really get much of a sleep.

The next morning felt like it came after centuries since Carl hadn’t been able to get much sleep. As the sun’s gentle rays pierced through the darkness, announcing the beginning of a new day. Carl was already sitting on the bench with his eyes red and signifying lack of sleep. Getting back into the bar was another issue for him. The place’s stench was too much for his sensitive nose and he had to go back in there since he was hungry. After pondering about it for a while he decided to cover his nose with the scarf he usually wore. He tied the scarf covering his nose but it also hid the his face, giving him the appearance of a robber or a thief. Carl walked back into the bar and opened the door. The creaky sound it made acquired only the attention of the bartender who had just woken up to clean up things.

A tall guy with a muscular build with red eyes and half of his face covered, more ever he appeared early in the morning. At first that sight really scared the bartender but then as he walked closer the bartender noticed who he was. ”You’re the guy from last night right? Didn’t you guys rent a room? What happened to you, why are you looking like that? ”. The man sure was inquisitive early in the day but Carl had little energy to answer his questions. ”Food… kitchen.. where-drabun?” those were the only three words he could muster. The bartender was confused for a while with his question but then pointed to the direction of the kitchen. Carl made his way into the kitchen, may be some cooking would give him the much needed energy.

Walking into the kitchen, Carl tied his beloved apron around his waist. The apron that had the saying “the handsomest cook alive” printed on it along with the picture of a pan. He fastened his utility belts on which his two pans were tied with all this time and began to look around for ingredients. In a few minutes he was able to deduct what the place had for cooking. Keeping that in mind he began to prepare his breakfast. The bartender walked in to check up on him but stood beside the door when he saw him cooking. It was like an enchanting display of magic, he was immersed and so he didn’t even notice that he was being watched. After he finished preparing, Carl shared the breakfast he made using the ingredients with the bartender and both of them enjoyed a tasty meal. While they ate Carl and the bartender talked and joked around, apparently the two had a similar sense of humor. After he finished the meal, Carl asked the bartender if he could stay in the kitchen while he waited for his friends to wake up. The kitchen was the only place where he wasn’t bothered by the smell of alcohol; he was more accustomed to its scent.

By the time Ray woke up, Carl was already inside the kitchen but he wasn’t awake. Waiting for others to wake up is kind of boring and since he had nothing else to do, he fell asleep on the table inside the kitchen. When Ray arrived and asked for water the bartender walked in the kitchen and noticed Carl sleeping. He tried waking up Carl who replied in his sleep, ”Yeah sure, I’ll make you some tasty meat-drabun” and then he fell back to his slumber. After shaking him up a few times, which didn’t pay off the bartender pushed him off the table. “Bam” Carl landed face first on the cold floor. The clueless victim stood up on his feet rubbing his face with his left hand, ”Can’t a guy sleep around heredrabun?”. The bartender looked at his face, apparently this tall guy was stupid or something, ”No, a guy can’t sleep around the kitchen. Anyways, your friend just woke up and he wants something to eat. Actually he wants one of our best dishes, you wanna whip something up?”.

The bar did have a cook/chef who must be lying around somewhere close by but since Carl was already there, he could do it instead. Carl nodded and smiled at the thought of cooking for ‘eye-patch’, now that he was awake. Again he got to work, cutting vegetables into fine little pieces, adding some wine for a touch of flavor and heating the recipe to a specific temperature. Cooking was about delicacy and precision, he was a lousy person but when it came to cooking, he was totally different then his usual self. After fifteen minutes of the request being made, Carl emerged from the kitchen with the dish in his hand. ”Yo, eye patch, you done sleepin-drabun?”,the bartender accompanying him with a glass of water, both placed the food and water in front of ‘eye-patch’ as Carl sat in front of him. Before he walked into the bar again he had covered his nose and thus half of his face with his scarf, so that he could bear the smell. ”Try this, I’m sure you’ll like it-drabun. How’re ya feelin now-drabun?”. His voice was a bit muffled because of the muffle on his face.

[Vio]

It was hard to say exactly what had led up to this point, but something was definitely amiss. There she stood, Louisa McLeod, upon a ledge overlooking the stormy grey seas as vicious and cacophonous waves crashed against dark and jagged rocks. The wind was cold and biting, but it did not faze her in the least as she stood there staring to the horizon; a horizon so grey and murky that stormy sea and cloudy sky seemed to merge together to form a wall of darkness. Beyond it lay unknown seas and stranger lands that she had yet to tread upon. It as all par the course, and she knew that. She had a goal, one that she would not reveal to others without good reason, and that goal was to find her father. Wherever he had vanished to, she did not know. She had no clue, but something had taken him away from her all those years ago.

"What's tha?" Sea-coloured eyes narrowing, the musician focused her gaze upon a shadow ahead. Emerging from the wall of gloom on the horizon, a sailing vessel of large proportions broke through the otherworldly barricade, its form naught but a silhouette against the rain and the mist. Definitely a ship, of course. There was no mistaking the familiar shape of sails battered by voracious gales that pulled it through the waves. The churning waters lapped against its hull as it came closer, waves striking so high that their crests clambered over the railings like the claws of the Sea Devil himself, desperate to pull yet more victims into the abyssal depths. The ocean, vast and powerful, claimed lives each and every day no matter what corner of the world you were at. Miss McLeod could see, even through the darkness, the amber glow of lanterns sparkling like little stars as the raindrops and mist captured and twisted their light out in all directions. With a violent shudder, the mysterious vessel was tossed into the air by the waves, crashing down into the water and vanishing momentarily in the flurry of white horses. The oceanic steeds faded into the grey, their bodies disappearing as quickly as they had emerged from the brine and allowing vision of the ship once more.

"Ah just hope they don't hit tha rocks..." She whispered to herself, well aware of what would happen if that came true. She could feel the patter of rain upon her shoulder, the downpour now beginning to engulf the cliffs upon which she stood, but she did not move. She wanted to see this through to the end, to make sure. She needed to be there, just in case something happened. The last thing she wanted to see was a ship that could possibly have her father aboard it come so close to landfall, only to be swallowed up and dragged into the sea. The ship was now far closer to the shore, its thick hull now beginning to turn as it struggled against the waves to prevent being towed to shore upon the back of an underwater cavalry. The rain was persistently pouring now, her rich red hair sodden and trails of wandering water following the contours of her face, only to drip from her chin. For some reason, her vision was blurring, a strange and bright fog now beginning to creep across the sea from all angles and surround the vessel.

"What's wi' this fog? Whar th' hell's it comin' from?" Head sweeping from side to side as she examined the luminous miasma, it seemed to be emerging from nothingness. A ghostly blue green luminescence, the fog crept in faster than any mist she had ever seen. By the time she had turned around, said smog was already swallowing the cliffs upon which she stood and even the woodland behind her had vanished. Then, without a sound, the fog swallowed up the very ground beneath her feet and sucked her in. She felt herself stumble forwards, the rain still pattering upon her shoulder...


"How're ya feelin' now-drabun?" Sounded a familiar voice, somewhat muffled by both her sleepiness and the fact that a scarf currently blocked the chef's mouth. Raising her head, now free of slumber, Louisa's nostrils were greeted by the lingering scent of alcohols and the appetising odour of a freshly cooked meal. She was still seated upon a stool at one end of the bar, her arms folded and resting upon the counter and familiar figures standing near. To her left was the man with the eye patch, while standing on the other side of the counter were both the barkeeper and the peculiar cook. The former looked very well, or at least a lot better than he had done the evening before. As for the cook? Well, he looked as if he had seen a rather bad night's sleep which, to be fair, was probably accurate. Unfortunately for them, the occupants of the double room had shown up at the last minute and checked in, though out of compassion the keeper had at least allowed Louisa to stay in the bar until morning. That could have been something to do with the fact that she had bested nearly every man in the joint, however, and the evidence now sat behind the counter in the form of no less than eight empty pint glasses. Eyes settled upon their now sparkling gleam and a smile formed upon her face. There were at least a couple of decent ales, but none had matched up to the beverages she was used to.

"Mornin', guys!" The Piktish lass chirped, sitting up straight and stretching her arms back. Despite the drinks consumed the night before and the rather uncomfortable sleeping location, she still seemed as energetic as usual. Not a single feature of her visage looked worn, eyes shining and friendly smile broad as ever. Then she turned to Carl, noting the slight darkness under his eyes. "Uh, what's up wi' ye? No sleep? Ye look like ye have nae slept a wink all night!"

Oh, that's right... I should introduce myself! Realisation sweeping over her, the elephant in the room was not an unnoticed gentleman that sat in the far corner subtly peering over the folds of his newspaper, but the fact that the aspiring musician had yet to confide in these two men. At the very least they should know each other's names, right? It would be rather improper and unfriendly to help a man out and then fail to at least give him a name to thank her by. Her father had always taught her good manners, even if he was not always one to abide by them himself.

"Reit, 'en! Should've done this earlier, but... Ah'm Louisa McLeod!"

SPOILER: Click to show

A dream sequence and a sneaky Shinobi! Don't take note of him, guys.

[Blaka]

*Berre berre berre berre*
The familiar sound of a ringing Den Den Mushi hammered into Melosa's ears. Her head hurt, each ringing felt like someone was taking a wooden club and swinging it against her temple.
"Hnnn!"
The young captain made a groaning noise and put her forearms up against her head to cover her ears, crawling into a fetal position under her blanket. Her body felt weirdly heavy, all her muscles were completely relaxed. At least she was lying on a soft and warm mattress, her face resting inside a large comfortable pillow.

*Catcha*
Someone had lifted the receiver, the ringing stopped. The next thing she heard was Bendan's voice, the boy from the other day.

"Bendan Koga-Ryu speaking."
His voice was as calm and emotionless as ever, neither even a nudge of happiness nor anger or sadness was in it.
"Jiancha Yuan, status report on the Queen Pirates situation."
The voice on the other end wasn't whispering but he was so quiet that it almost sounded like the guy just exhaled and somehow words formed on their own. Melosa completely ignored that fact however, she had heard two little words that had drawn her full attention. Queen Pirates.

Immediately, she opened her eyes and sat straight in her bed, staring at the snailphone. She was sitting in a large bed in a relatively small square room. The walls were reminiscent of the mayor's throne room, the same crimson wallpaper graced the walls. A huge chandelier was hanging from the ceiling, illuminating the room despite the lack of a window. Except for the bed and an area on the other side near the door, the room was completely empty. The only thing interrupting the rose pattern on the wall was a mudgreen hammock hanging near the entrance. In it, Bendan Koga-Ryu, in an equally green pajama. His right hand was playing with a knife while his left was holding the snailphone receiver.

"Just a heads up, everyone's still okay. The woman just woke up, name's Louisa McLeod. She seems completely fine. Looked like death by intoxication earlier, but that's obsolete. That's all for now."
*Catcha*
The snail closed her eyes again. With an almost inaudible sigh, Bendan put down the speaker and looked over to the pink-haired girl in his room.
"So you're awake." he noted.

Finally, everything that had happened rushed back into Melosa's brain. The shipwreck, the meal, Abejorro, the poison. From one moment to another she was back on her feet and trying to draw her swords. Of course, they weren't where they were supposed to be. Nothing on her person was. Somebody had taken off her clothes and stuffed her into one of the Shinobi's skintight brown attire. Hectically looking around, she spotted. her original clothes lying as a pile in the corner. The swords however were nowhere to be seen. Panicking a little, she took a couple of steps backwards, away from the green-haired boy with the knife.

"You kidnapped me?"
That was all she could say at the moment, too many things were happening at once in her mind.
Bendan didn't let himself be impressed in the least. Instead, he calmly put his knife away stood up.
"I don't like having you in my room but I have the order to be nice to you, so I'll explain it. You are no prisoner, you are a guest. We couldn't risk you getting away but we won't hold you here forever. The contract says we are to protect you. Father says we're going to train you so you can protect yourself once you leave. Until then, you stay in the village."

Another thought flew into Melosa's already messed up brain space. Father? Did he mean the village leader?
Still suspicious, she crossed her arms in front of her chest.
"That's not how you make a guest stay! You could have just told me!"
"It was a security measure, calm down lass!" That was another voice Melosa hadn't heard before. Cold and sneering, it almost gave her chills and made her step back even further. "Bendan you idiot, you were supposed to report when she's awake!"

A huge skinny figure entered the room, almost one and a half times Melosa's height. He arched his back as he walked into the room, otherwise he would have hit his head on the ceiling. The man had to be almost 10 years older than Bendan. Like the boy, he had long dark green hair. His was longer though, going down to his shoulder blades. Again, it hid most of the look on his pale, almost white face. Obviously he was a Shinobi from the village, evidenced by his brown Rokkaku villager outfit.
"That was like a second ago, how was I supposed t-"
"Excuse my idiot brother!" interrupted the creepy stranger "My name is Nao Koga-Ryu. Pleasure to meet Abejorro's precious pirate girl." The sarcasm in his voice was unmistakeable. "Get her breakfast and report, dimwit." he ordered his apparent brother without so much as looking at him. Instead, he walked up to the thoroughly creeped out Melosa, towering over her. "I'm supposed to be your instructor."

[HikaruShin]

Carl had slept a bit while the two of his ‘acquaintances’ were still asleep. After eating the ravishing breakfast that he prepared in the morning, he had some time to slack off. Not that he was actually an employee of the lab, he just couldn’t find a place to sleep. The bar was a bit too smelly for the sensitive nose of a chef and the room had one bed. He’d rather sleep elsewhere than share the bed with a guy. The adventure of sleeping elsewhere though, wasn’t quite what anyone would think. So now, his eyes were red and he was yawning every other minute.

Once he prepared breakfast for ‘eye-patch’, the aggressive stranger lady also woke up. [colo=#ffd700]”Morning, you must be hungry-drabun. Have no fear, the man with the pan is here-drabun”[/color] replied Carl as he turned around to head back to the kitchen. Before he headed in, he heard her next sentence too. Tears almost made out of his eyes, he turned around and headed straight for the drunk lady. She was pretty smelly but he really couldn’t help himself, he got closer to her face and looked into her eyes. His red eyes were almost a bit too watery, with a heavy voice he barely spoke these words: ”You have no idea-drabun”. After that the tall chef jumped across the bar and headed back into the kitchen to prepare another breakfast. Even though he was tired and was lazy by nature but those things came second to his love for making a good meal.

Inside the kitchen, he could still hear her voice so he picked up on her introduction. Once again, the confident chef walked to the kitchen door: ”I’m Carl Ohdora-drabun”. Having nothing else to say he walked back in and continued on preparing the food. Despite the fact that this was the third breakfast he was preparing in a single day, he still put every ounce of effort into it. He had learned from the likes of Zeff, he wouldn’t allow something so trivial as sleep to stain his name. That’s how he was, cooking might appear as just a hobby to some but it was life to Carl.

Meanwhile, a few street gangsters were headed for the bar to collect their weekly protection money. These street thugs had been doing so for quite a while, the local shop vendors had gotten used to it. If someone resisted they would put a show and make an example out of them. So they ensured their control by fear hence no one dared to rebel against them. The door opened and three large figures entered the bar. The bartender who was smiling, laughing and shouting at Carl, enjoying the company of these new comers suddenly stopped moving. A drop of cold sweat went down his forehead, his facial expressions depicted his fear. ”Oi old man, don’t you know what day it is ha? What are you standing there for? “ the one in the front spoke in a loud tone. Every local in the bar looked down and acted as if nothing was happening. It was like these thugs were invisible to everyone else but the bar tender.

Hearing the loud voice, Carl came out of the kitchen with one of his pan in his hand and the other still attached to his utility belt. He was wearing an apron, as was customary for every chef. The thugs cast a gaze at him and then burst out laughing. ”Who are you supposed to be? The grandma of the bar? “ the three disgusting fellows were laughing in a synchronized manner. One may even argue that the three had practiced the laugh but then a fourth voice joined them as well. ”jagagagaga, hey I don’t look that bad-drabun”, apparently Carl missed out on the tension in the room. The three then suddenly stopped laughing and looked at the bartender who still was frozen stiff. ”Get moving you old fart, bring us the money or we trash the place”, once again the leader spoke. Carl stopped laughing and looked at the face of the speaker, ”What’d you mean trash the place? What’s he talking about-drabun?”, he inquired of the bartender. ”I’m sorry, we.. we’re short .. on some money this week” the bartender stuttered through those words.

The reply wasn’t a verbal response, it was in the form of a flying chair headed straight for the old man. Barely managing to avoid it, the bartender ducked. The time for talking was over then, the tall chef had already moved and appeared in front of the thug, smacking his face with the pan in his hand. He grabbed his other pan in the hand, now both the pans were in his hand and he was ready to battle. ”You mess with the old man, you get to deal with the pan-drabun” said Carl in a serious manner. The jolly chef was now gone and a more serious brawler had appeared. He didn’t know what this was all about, he didn’t care either. He just didn’t like how these guys were oppressing the old man. The bartender sure was rude and cranky but he was a good man at heart and Carl had just begun to know him; he kind of liked him. So he wasn’t going to just stand and let it slide.

”Fresh meat, you think you can take us on? You’re outnumbered but don’t think we’ll go easy on you now”, recovering from the pan hit the leader roared at Carl.

[Vio]

There were things to be said about her new acquaintances, but Louisa McLeod simply shrugged off any negative thoughts as easily as she did an ale. Even as the chef placed his face right up close to her own, she did not flinch or back away. Instead, she maintained the kind of friendly smile shared amongst the people of her homeland. Few really caused her to feel any degree of discomfort with their presence, most of the men who had joined her in an undeclared drinking contest being the big and rough types, yet still she had bested them without much effort. She was, and always had been, a people person. Sociable and friendly, often to incredible extremes, the Piktish lass was confident enough in herself to be able to talk to any man, woman or child with equal vigour and careless abandon. That's just the type of woman she was. With the introductions over, she now knew the name of the people around her, though she was still uncertain of whether or not Carl's surname was Ohdora-Drabun or just Ohdora. He seemed to add 'drabun' to the end of every sentence, a strange quirk that reminded her of one of the clan leaders of the Archipelago, who always added 'kay' to his speeches.

"You know, I've never seen anyone best some of my patrons before." The barkeep explained, a friendly smile upon his face as well as they began to converse. Friendly talks and laughter filled the air of the little inn for a few minutes, but the noise was soon broken when the door to the bar opened. In walked three men, all quite large and burly, whose very presence seemed to change the expression on the innkeeper's face immediately. The warm smile on his face turned to a cold and fearful expression, as if he had just seen a ghost. It was then that the gentlemen made their presence known, the leader's voice loud enough so that it filled the bar. The small number of people in the bar seemed to quieten down, focusing on their meals and papers and whatnot, but Louisa did not. Instead, she cast her sea-coloured eyes towards the men, her grin having shifting to more of a curious smile.

"Who are you supposed to be? The Grandma of the bar?" Joked the leader of the pack, having spied the emerging chef and his apron. By now, the thugs were laughing to themselves. They looked like your average group of lowlifes, to be fair, dressed in jeans and black shirts, the leader wearing a brown leather jacket and with the most ridiculous buzz cut upon his head. The other two seemed plain enough, the one's neck lined with stubble and his head shaven to a shine, and the other had slightly longer black hair and a short and scruffy beard. They were tall, relatively well built, but also a little bit on the portly side with the faintest traces of pot bellies. Together, after Mister Ohdora-Drabun's comment, they ceased their laughter and all gazed towards the innkeeper. "Get moving you old fart! Bring us the money or we trash the place."

"Whit ur they talkin' abi-" Miss McLeod began to say, entirely confused, but the following event was all she needed to know. A chair from one of the nearest tables flew across the bar, the owner ducking beneath the counter as the seat smashed into the assortment of ales and glasses in the back, showering the immediate area in shards of glass and splashes of alcohols. One such bottle of 'Red Mule' whiskey had also been caught in the mess - so called because it had a real kick to it - and rolled from the shelving units and shattered upon the floor. Such a shame, really. Such a whiskey was one of the beverages she had tested the night before, and she had to agree that it was one of the strongest available in this neck of the woods. The musician had even been tempted to buy a bottle to take with her, but it seemed that such dreams had been shattered like the glass.

"You think you can take us on?" Questioned the leader of the group, having suddenly been smacked in the face with one of Carl's pans. The sound of the pan vibrating lingered in the air for a few seconds, drawing the eyes of many of the 'spectators' as they began to shuffle out, a few lingering in the corners of the bar (including the man with the newspaper, who had not budged an inch). Louisa clenched her fists as she turned around on her stool, heart now beating furiously in her chest like a war drum, her blood practically boiling. Who the hell did these men think they were, barging in and demanding money off an otherwise fine gentleman like that?

"Ootnumbered, ur we? Ah think ye better coont again!" Announced the musician, sliding from the barstool and her feet landing firmly against the floorboards. Right now, she was fuming. Sure, she had been in numerous brawls before back home, but never over something so horrid as this. Forcing a man to pay up his earnings for no good reason? Well, there was clearly something else going on here. But, whether she paid attention to that fact or not, Louisa was not about to let such men as these push others around.

"I... Have no idea what the hell you just said," replied another member of the group, giving the dancer the strangest look of confusion. Silence persisted for a moment, at least for everyone else. For the redhead, she was already tapping her feet against the floorboards in a rhythmic fashion, but that soon started to escalate into more of a dance. With each passing second, she raised her knees higher and higher, her legs now drumming against the floorboards with the kind of speed and vigour only a dancer could maintain. "What the hell are you doing you stupid wo-"

"Gunna... GRÁIN!" There was not much time for the thugs to react. Having already been struck by the fierce pan of the cook, the brutish leader was already expecting another attack, but not one like this. With a forceful kick against the ground that caused the floorboards to tremble, Miss McLeod propelled herself into the air and tilted her body, sending both her legs out with vicious force and striking the man nearest to her with both feet. Raising his arms to his face, the bearded delinquent was able to defend himself from a punishing kick, but that did not lessen the impact. Indeed, the attack was more than enough to knock him off balance, sending him tripping over his own feet and crashing into the tables and chairs behind him as the attacker landed upon her feet again. Elegantly, yet energetically, Louisa allowed her knees to bend before springing back up again, feet resuming their musical movements. "Ah pure hate men loch ye! But if ye wanna barnie, yoo've got a body!"

"Dammit, woman! I still have no idea what you just said!" Yelled the gangster as he pulled himself free of the scattered table and chairs, his shirt stained by an abandoned cup of coffee that had also been spilled in the ruckus.

"IF YE WANNA FIGHT! YOU FIGHT ME!" Louisa yelled at the top of her voice, her melodious march never once faltering...

[Blaka]

A few moments early and a considerable distance away, Melosa was backing away from the newly arrived Shinobi.
Another Koga-Ryu. Bendan's brother.
"Instructor?", she asked with a shy voice, mainly to stall time she needed to think. "Instructor for what?"
She had to think about how to act now. It was probably best to act friendly and polite so that she could run away as quickly as possible and contact her shipwright. Her eyes fell on the Den Den Mushi in front of Bendan's hammock. Actually, contacting Shin seemed to be easier than she initially thought.

Nao sighed. Clearly, he wanted to be here even less than Melosa. Rolling his eyes he responded in an annoyed tone: "I'm supposed to train you. So you can leave. Can't wait for that to happen. I know pirates aren't scholars but you even Bendan would've got that by now." Arching his back even further down, he brought his face directly in front of Melosa's. "Please stop asking unnecessary question from now on.", he almost hissed "I reeeally can't stand that. Perhaps we need to start with learning how to keep quiet."
Instantly straightening his spine again as much as possible without hitting his head on the ceiling, he bellowed in his brother's general direction. "Bendan, Hide and Seek. You're it. Get ready."
The older brother's body blocked Melosa's vision on the younger one, but she could hear his voice. Clearly he did not enjoy that order, but he complied: "Yes, sir...."
Melosa got a little glimpse of him as he left the room, his head and shoulders were hanging down. Happiness was something else, that was for sure.

Nao waited until his brother left the room, then he scoffed scornfully. "Moron..", he mumbled. Stuffing his hands in his pockets he turned around and walked towards the door as well, probably expecting his new student to follow him. She wouldn't have it though.
"One thing before we start.", she spoke up "Can I contact my crewmate? I know you're watching him." Finally, her voice was a bit more confident again. The pirate princess was able to cover her insecurity with a polite tone.
The older Shinobi turned his head and looked back to at her. His eyes were still covered by hair, but his voice made his message all too clear: "No. You could tell them our location."
Yet, he still walked up to the Den Den Mushi and picked up the speaker. "Talk to Yuan if you must. He's the guy watching them. Come out once you're done."
With these words he tossed the speaker towards Melosa and walked out.

The pink-haired pirategirl caught it and stood still for a moment in the middle of the now almost empty room. The eyes of the snail were open. Was she expected to speak?
"H-hello? Queen B. Melosa speaking."
The voice on the other end was the one he had heard earlier. Yuan, was it?
"What?" Apart from the mayor, none of the Shinobi seemed to have any idea of politeness or social norms.
Unsure how she was expected to react, she just carried on with her intentions. "Is Shin there? I wanted to speak to him."
"He's here and he's fine. He found some new comrades. A chef, Carl Ohdora, and a musician, Louisa McLeod."
Carl Ohdora? Melosa had heard than name before, it took her a moment to figure out where. Then she remembered: The chef from Dauntaun! The chef that almost joined their crew before the bomb went off and he was washed away by the masses.
"My job here is to evaluate your crewmates. The stronger they are, the better for you. With a strong crew you don't need to train as much before you are deemed ready."
Those were good news at least. Awesome in fact. The potential of two new friends put the hint of a smile back on Melosa's face.
"Although your ship is a complete wreck. I have no idea how he survived that. But I'm sure your guys can put it back together. Also I- woah."
The voice on the other end suddenly stopped midsentence.
"What is it? Tell me what's happening!", demanded Melosa.
Deafening silence.
She could hear a few loud voices but couldn't make out any words. Already, her face was frowning again, worrying about what would happen to Shin and his new friends.
The voices were followed by a terrifying crack of wood, as if someone had slammed an entire chair against a wall.
"Might have to relocate. Getting back to you."
"No wait!", she yelled "What was that?!?""

*Catcha* made the snail.

She was alone again. Slowly, she put the speaker back on the phone. What was she supposed to do now? Her eyes were getting watery. Their ship was broken, Shin was in danger, she was a prisoner of a paranoid Shinobi clan - all thanks to a powerful person that went to all kinds of trouble to imprison her in the village, Abejorro. She would have broken out in tears, were it not for one image that suddenly flashed before her eyes. A memory from her first day as Captain:
Back on Zarzara Island, Shin had taken out four full fledged longtime pirates with just a small wound. And now he had found more people to stand at his side. Trusting her crew was important now.

Wiping the water out of her eyes, holding her head high and setting up a huge excited smile, she strutted towards the door. Learning new things from the Shinobi couldn't hurt. She'd just have to be quick.

[Shin]

The young man with the eye patch was glad to see that the young woman was perfectly fine. After all if a hangover were to occur it would not be taken so lightly. A voice came from the other side of the bar which lead into the kitchen. A voice echoed from the kitchen which was followed by the sounds of the stove and a few pots and pans. In retrospect Shin noticed the voice which brought a familiar and friendly tone with it. The doors opened and out came the creator of the delicious and most tempting scent.

Shin widened his eye and yelled, "Chef-oi! I haven't seen you since that time when you lost your job and got tossed out of the restaurant!" He glanced around after making such an uproar while still keeping his eye on the chef. It seemed as though Shin's eye was gleaming, this was merely on the account of the chefs cooking abilities. Releasing the shock that once sat within him Shin would listen to him as well as the young girl who held an obvious accent with her. They'd simply introduce themselves before glancing toward Shin.

The emerald eyed man leaned back and released a slight sigh before replying to them.

"I'm Shin Asada. I'm the shipwright as well as the step in firstmate of the Queen Pirates." He'd nod as he began to dig into the food that the chef of great food prepared. Unfortunately his 'feast' was cut short by the ruckus that was being made behind him. He sighed once more and span in the seat to face what the noise was coming from. The voice of a man flew through the bar, ”Oi old man, don’t you know what day it is ha? What are you standing there for?“ Shin yawned before placing a frown upon his face, the people who came in were really ruining what little of a mood the bar had. "He can stand wherever he wants, after all what business do ya even have with em?" Shins words would flow out of his mouth subconsciously easily misunderstanding what the man meant. Almost just as fast one of the thugs' 'lackeys' would respond, "Ye better shut yer mouth ye piece a shit 'fore ye get some since beaten in ye." The leader of the disruptive group seemed to be overly confident in his as well as his thugs abilities to take what they wanted.

It took a moment before the leader much else, ”Get moving you old fart, bring us the money or we trash the place” Shin didn't like the tone in the mans voice and judging by his appearance he was being serious. Though this 'intimidation' didn't have much effect on the new three friends. Within less than a second, Carl attacked the man with his pan. The pan came crashing into the man which propelled him into the ground. ”You mess with the old man, you get to deal with the pan-drabun”, Carls mood changed as he was no longer in a joking manner. The troublemaker was now seated in the remains of a wooden table. ”Fresh meat, you think you can take us on? You’re outnumbered but don’t think we’ll go easy on you now!” The pirate frowned and placed his hand on his neck, "Numbers aren't everything y'know? Quality over quantity." Shins eyes gleamed as he was now prepared for a battle after all his desire to fight was at its limit. 

After little time recovering, the 'boss' of the group would begin to speak though he'd get into a dispute with Louisa who Shin had an extremely hard time understanding. It all broke down when the man was cut off mid sentence as he tried to say he didn't know what she said. "Gunna... GRÁIN!", Shin was only able to watch in bare amazement as Louisa forcefully kicked into the ground. This made the floor boards tremble and Shins chair shake and wobble. He'd only blinked but she had already moved out toward the enemy and kicked at the man with both legs. He attempted to block but it didn't seem to help him much as he was pushed into a couple of tables with a lot of force. "Ah pure hate men loch ye! But if ye wanna barnie, yoo've got a body!"

Shin was still amazed but with what Louisa said he was puzzled, "Um. . . What'd you just say? I couldn't quite get that." The young pirate was confused but it would seem that the man himself was also just as lost as himself. "Dammit, woman! I still have no idea what you just said!" Shin was now rubbing his hands together and all the while a crackling sound could be heard. While Shin was preoccupied, Louisa spoke once more, "IF YE WANNA FIGHT! YOU FIGHT ME!" He smirked and popped out of the stool he once remained in. "Now that's something that I can understand."

His eye gleamed in what little light the bar managed to get as he dashed out toward one of the men who seemed eager to fight. The man grinned and unsheathed his blade, "Ye must be some type a dumb ass to think ye could defeat me!" The man would raise his blade and bring it down in a vertical motion toward Shins head. With the amount of time left Shin weaved toward the left thus dodging the blade and muttered under his breath so as not to be heard, "Kosu no Pulse." Shin then took his right hand and chopped the man in the back of his neck. Once the static from his technique was administered the pirate would drive his left leg into the abdomen sending the cocky thug crashing into a table. The man frowned and looked at shin with enough hate to kill. In that moment the man would attempt to get up but something didn't work. The thug instinctively cried out to his leader, "Boss I can't move a finger. Damn it ye summa a bitch! I'll kill ye for what ye done to me!"

The young pirate only glared, "That's paralysis. So you just stay seated for a while and let the adults her take care of their business." Shin would then turn his attention back toward the rest of the gang who seemed more likely to attack than to back down. "Now come on do we really need to fight anymore here?" The shipwright would chuckle while a joking about their current situation. Though it didn't seem as though they were in the mood to just let things go.

SPOILER: Click to show

Please ignore the fact that this post looks like a rainbow XD

[HikaruShin]

The tall chef didn’t expect what came after. That’s mostly because he never planned ahead and he didn’t care what consequences his actions would have. His two acquaintances also got involved in the fight and for now, the numbers were even on both sides. Carl cast a gaze at both of them one by one. He was happy to have them fight along with him. The reason didn’t matter, the numbers didn’t either, the fact that they were standing together was all that he ever cared for. His attention returned to the person he had just hit before with his pan. With a wide smile, he answered the question that the leader had asked earlier: ”Oh yeah, I think we can take you on-drabun!”.

When Louisa spoke earlier which wasn’t understood by either eye-patch or her foe, the only one nodding was Carl. For some weird reason, he could completely understand the lady that was very hard to understand because of her accent. So when she shouted that she’ll be fighting her, he had already heard her the first time but he raised his pan in order to acknowledge her words. She was one drunk woman but he kind of liked how she stood up for the old bar man. Her dance was weird but he kind of admired it, mostly because how passionate she was about it. These guys were asking for it and she was giving it to them.

The eye patch that had been like a sack of potatoes so far also jumped in on the action and was pretty amazing. He was fast, quick and for some reason paralyzed his opponent with just one hit. Yo nice one eye-patch –drabun” shouted Carl as his partner in crime astonished the opposition. From the looks of it, he alone could take on all of these guys so suddenly the odds had been changed. Carl was liking the odds but he wasn’t going to keep standing and do nothing. His friends had chosen their opponents so that only left one person, the leader.

He charged ahead confident that his attack would hit actually something did hit but that was his face that hit. He had just slammed his face on the fist of the leader. More appropriately, before his pans could again hit the leader his face was received a straight punch. That was one painful experience and it made him step back. His nose took the brunt of the damage and began to bleed. However, he was undeterred by that. So he charged once again, this time when he got close he the leader did the same thing. He replied with a straight punch but Carl side stepped right before that and thus dodged the punch. Not only did he side step but also he lowered his upper body aiming for the legs of the leader with both his pans. First his right pan hit the left leg of the leader, hitting his knee. The impact was loud and powerful but not enough to make him fall. The first hit was followed by another as he rotated and aimed for the same spot with his left pan. The movements were quicker and so they hit, resulting in the fall of that big man.

”If you’re smart, you wo…” taken in by surprise, Carl’s legs were grabbed and he was raised from the ground. Silly Carl, if you’re going to stand next to the person you just knocked down, that’s bound to happen. Not only was he raised from the ground, the big gang leader picked him up in the air and sent him flying towards the bar. On his flight, he also crashed with a chair, a table, an empty bottle and then in the end with the bar. ”Argh, that was one painful flight-drabun” said Carl as he groaned and stood up again. He was hit bad but despite that, he was tough. Still his hands kept their grips on his beloved pans, which meant he wasn’t going down that easy.