Post by Buddy1 on Sept 30, 2015 20:12:05 GMT -5
Rapid footsteps echoed throughout the metal floors of the Midnight Tiger. The memories of the recent battle bounced in his head. While Blue Shiomaru knew he should be sleeping, he could not. The halls of the ship were stifling and small, and even in the confines of his ship he could feel the activity going on outside it. The oceans were active with enemy movement, and the night was too loud for him to sleep. He wanted to move, but didn’t know what to do. He remembered the battle against Yoi. While he felt stronger than ever today, he was still no match for that man—yet many more battles were coming. It was frustrating. He did push ups to work out his frustration, but he knew that no exercise could make him as strong as he needed to be.
“Oi, you gonna free up some space?” Seahorse Fishman Peche walked in on Shiomaru exercising. He took a swig of a flask while looking down at the young fishman. He was not surprised in the least to see the boy exercise, and patiently waited for him to move—knowing he would not likely wait long. He knew the sharkman was the kind to comply when asked, at least with something like this.
“Hey, you can’t sleep either?” Shiomaru pushed himself upwards, standing on one hand. Then he flipped back upwards, to stand face to face with Peche as they spoke. He patiently waited for his answer.
“Sleep is for the weak. So why’re you up?” He took another swig, then checked the contents of his drink. He was used to this kind of pressure, and had long since done what he needed to stay calm. Alcohol helped, of course. He normally wouldn’t encourage Shiomaru to talk, but it was odd to for him to be so hyper at this time of night.
“How can I possibly sleep? This is, like, the biggest thing the Sea Tigers have done, and I need to do more somehow! We have countless enemies to face! I need to get stronger! This is just like something Sama would tell me about, and I wanna rise to the occasion! I don’t know what, but I have to do more!” Shiomaru gushed at his fellow pirate, only to be stopped Peche forcefully covering his mouth. His patient was short, and had run out.
“Shut up! Worrying about it won’t do any good! Either do something, or go to sleep!” He let go of the sharkman’s mouth quickly. He took another swig, paying more attention to it than his crewmate. He felt in his heart he gave brilliant advice, as he always did, and expected Shiomaru to agree. He didn’t like to listen to him much anyway.
“Hey, that’s a great idea!” Shiomaru jumped at the nearest port, and exited the ship—leaving a confused Peche behind him. This solved at least some of his problems. He wasn’t used to being inside so long, so going out of the obvious answer. Besides that, with his great speed he was sure he could avoid being caught. On top of that, he was blue like the sea, so he was sure he could blend it. He remembered how Sama would jokily call him a “ninja of the sea,” though he forgot exactly what a ninja was at this point. Regardless, he explored the sea again.
“Impossible!” On a cliff overlooking the sea, Keese observed the cliffside through binoculars while eating a leg of lamb. His camp was a short distance away in a forest, easy to see by the smoke from the burning fire pit there. In-between eating, he scratched his head—his hair had grown in again just like it did this morning. He had camped out here, not expecting to find anything, but luck was on his side again. With him he carried a cart of supplies he thought he’d need for a hunt—guns, poisons, netting, and left over junk from his previous career. Briefly he saw Blue Shiomaru peek above sea, near the same area where they all dived into earlier. Against all logic, the fishman pirates were still here. He had to act, now, and somehow attract his bounty target to him.
“Hey…do I know you? You seem familiar.” Shiomaru now stood behind Keese, curiously observing the man while sniffing at the leg of lamb. The scent of food lured him here, and he decided to investigate. He didn’t remember this man, but recognized he wasn’t in a marine uniform. He hoped he could either sate his curiosity, or sate his curiosity for this new food.
“Blue Shiomaru! Where’d you come from?” Keese was startled, so much so that a tuff of curly hair popped out of his face—another side effect of his abnormally fast growing hair. Instinctively he swung the leg of lamb at the sneaking newcomer. It smacked him in the face, only to get stuck. After a silent few seconds that seemingly lasted forever, the sharkman audibly started gnawing meaty treat. While chewing, the Shiomaru thanked him.
“You…don’t recognize me?” Keese often forgot about the state of the hair on his face, but even then he didn’t understand how this boy could forget him. Between the beatings he gave him, and him wearing the exact same clothes, nothing about this made sense. Still he remembered the 15 million berry bounty, and the opportunity it presented. Now his target was right in front of him, unable to see him as a threat. He didn’t plan it, but he had to try and take this as far as it goes.
“I have a camp a short distance away. There’s more food there! More lamb meat too! How about it?” He pointed at the smoke, and awaited his response while trying to hide his eagerness.
“Not today. I have to go. Thanks for the lamb! I have to tell Peche about this!” Shiomaru, meanwhile, had quickly devoured the leg of lamb down to the done—it being no match for his powerful shark teeth. This man seemed interesting, but in light of his crew’s mission, he couldn’t leave just for the temptation of more food. While he was only out here a short time, that meal alone had made him feel much better. He started to walk away.
“Wait! What if…I have so many thing to tell you! About Karate Island! And Sama!” With his first gambit failing, he’d instead lure this bounty with information. In between this night and the earlier day, he had formed many ideas to capture this bounty, and this one seemed the most obvious and effective. He didn’t even have to lie either—the very reason he was on this island in the first place lied within an incident that happened only a week ago.
“Woah, you know Sama? Well, that’s nice, but a lot of people know about Sama! I really, really have to get going!” Shiomaru made his way towards the cliff, planning to jump back into the ocean.
“Wait!” The martial arts master grew desperate, and threw his trump card to the ground. It was a newspaper. On it was the details of a tragedy. In bold letters it stated on the first page “Fishman Arson Spree takes 200 Homes.” The blue sharkman slowly picked up newspaper, observing the front page picture of a row of houses burnt to the ground.
“Wow…that looks pretty bad. What does it say? I can’t really read any of this.” Shiomaru’s words nearly sent the martial arts teacher reeling. The young man had never had a home all his life, and as such never went to school or learned to read. Everything he learned was from his mentor Sama, and that was simply how to fight and navigation.
“How the hell does a kid get by so long without learning to read!? You idiot! It says a fishman caused havoc on your home island! A fishman you should know very well! It’s Icarus! Do you remember?!” Keese shouted, unable to hold back his rage. Only the temptation of millions of berries stopped him from smacking the boy in the head.
“What? That guy?” However, Shiomaru did know that name. Icarus was a young black sailfish fishman who he had battled a short time ago. In the seas of the Ciudadela Queendom, Berk, Manuke, and himself traveled to this island to help a friend of theirs find his home with the marines. It went as poorly as to be expected, and a fight broke out between pirate and marines. However, it was stopped by the overwhelming power of Queen Olimpia’s fleet, who quickly captured everyone involved. Then, he and the rest of the crew were forced to fight the fleets strongest fighters, and that’s where he met Icarus.
“What does this have to do with me? Our fight is over!” Shiomaru had narrowly won the fight. Icarus, for reasons he did not understand, choose to hide his identity behind a mask and suit—as a means to manufacture his legend and manipulate his reputation. Icarus didn’t fight seriously, allowing him to get in several devastating blows before the fights end. However, he had knocked him into the sea, and that was when the fight changed. In the water, Icarus removed his mask and then brutally beat him with superior strength and speed. The fight made its way back to the deck of a ship, where he had managed to break Icarus’ arm with one well-placed punch. Shiomaru did not understand how prideful Icarus was, and how much his reputation with Queen Olimpia meant to him. Icarus lost control of himself at the end of the fight, and used his fellow soldiers as a veil to stab Shiomaru off guard. Their fight was forcibly stopped, and Icarus was cast out. The Sailfish fishman loudly screamed bloody murder to every pirate and solider there, and promised revenge.
“Yes…I met this man, and he told me some very interesting things! I’ll tell you more, but you have to come to me camp!” Keese hungrily looked over Shiomaru as he held that newspaper. He could see that the young fishman’s curiosity was piqued. The look of concern coming his way gave a clear sign that suddenly the pirate needed something from him, and that’s was the bait for his trap. Everything was working in his favor, and with less effort than expected Shiomaru started following him. He’d lure the fishman more and more inland, seeking to keep him away from the sea. Keese dragged his cart with him, leading the way.
Minutes later, the two stood in a forest, but a crude deerskin tent and a fire pit cooking more lamb meat. Keese dropped his cart, and started to sift through it. As the sharkman observe the tent and the fire, he threw a backpack over his shoulder and stuffed it with his weapons--starting with the nets and poisons. His target seemed to not notice.
"Hey, you mentioned Sama. What's he got to do with all this?" Shiomaru thought about the incident at the Ciudadela Queendom and Icarus--something he hadn't done for a long time. He couldn't imagine it was something that would come up again. However, he was more curious about Sama.
"Well...this Icarus fellow. It turns out he visited Silia the day after he terrorized Karate Island!" As Keese searched for a razor blade, he told the story. He had run into Icarus during his rampage on Karate Island, and luckily managed to talk his way out of attack. No, he was spared because he knew something that could help Icarus. The Sailfish Fishman made no secret he goal on the island. During his last fight with Blue Shiomaru, he let him know he lived on Karate Island and was trained by a man named Sama--and that's where he got this idea. He came here to ruin Shiomaru's home, and kill his Sama person. That's where Keese came in--he knew about Sama, and was willing to tell him where he lived.
"I made a bargain with that freak, and met him again a few days later. While I didn't see it happen, when I met Icarus again, he stood over the burnt ashes of Sama's home!" As he spoke, he shaved his head and face. With his visage revealed, he awaited for the sharkman to recognize him.
"What are you talking about...whoever you are! What happened to Sama?" Shiomaru didn't recognize him. Even if he wasn't more concerned about Sama right now, he had long since forgotten Keese's face. A slab of stone slammed over his head.
"You idiot! How can you not tell who I am?!" From his cart, he pulled another stone slab. On it, it read "Cat" with a crude picture of the animal on it--a teaching aid from his past career. After the incident between Sama and Shiomaru, he had transitioned to teaching martial arts to children.
"I'm telling you that Icarus is an obsessed, bloodthirsty monster, and I told him where Sama lives! Against that kind of beast, a weakling like Sama is clearly dead!" Keese stood over a knocked down Shiomaru, awaiting his response. It could have been anything, he didn't care. The sharkman was trapped now, and he merely waited for an attack which he could counter.
"Wow...you're pretty stupid, aren't you mister?" Shiomaru sat on the ground laughing. He reached over at the fire pit, pulled out a piece of lamb meat, and started chewing it. He was indifferent to Keese's face turning red with anger.
“Oi, you gonna free up some space?” Seahorse Fishman Peche walked in on Shiomaru exercising. He took a swig of a flask while looking down at the young fishman. He was not surprised in the least to see the boy exercise, and patiently waited for him to move—knowing he would not likely wait long. He knew the sharkman was the kind to comply when asked, at least with something like this.
“Hey, you can’t sleep either?” Shiomaru pushed himself upwards, standing on one hand. Then he flipped back upwards, to stand face to face with Peche as they spoke. He patiently waited for his answer.
“Sleep is for the weak. So why’re you up?” He took another swig, then checked the contents of his drink. He was used to this kind of pressure, and had long since done what he needed to stay calm. Alcohol helped, of course. He normally wouldn’t encourage Shiomaru to talk, but it was odd to for him to be so hyper at this time of night.
“How can I possibly sleep? This is, like, the biggest thing the Sea Tigers have done, and I need to do more somehow! We have countless enemies to face! I need to get stronger! This is just like something Sama would tell me about, and I wanna rise to the occasion! I don’t know what, but I have to do more!” Shiomaru gushed at his fellow pirate, only to be stopped Peche forcefully covering his mouth. His patient was short, and had run out.
“Shut up! Worrying about it won’t do any good! Either do something, or go to sleep!” He let go of the sharkman’s mouth quickly. He took another swig, paying more attention to it than his crewmate. He felt in his heart he gave brilliant advice, as he always did, and expected Shiomaru to agree. He didn’t like to listen to him much anyway.
“Hey, that’s a great idea!” Shiomaru jumped at the nearest port, and exited the ship—leaving a confused Peche behind him. This solved at least some of his problems. He wasn’t used to being inside so long, so going out of the obvious answer. Besides that, with his great speed he was sure he could avoid being caught. On top of that, he was blue like the sea, so he was sure he could blend it. He remembered how Sama would jokily call him a “ninja of the sea,” though he forgot exactly what a ninja was at this point. Regardless, he explored the sea again.
“Impossible!” On a cliff overlooking the sea, Keese observed the cliffside through binoculars while eating a leg of lamb. His camp was a short distance away in a forest, easy to see by the smoke from the burning fire pit there. In-between eating, he scratched his head—his hair had grown in again just like it did this morning. He had camped out here, not expecting to find anything, but luck was on his side again. With him he carried a cart of supplies he thought he’d need for a hunt—guns, poisons, netting, and left over junk from his previous career. Briefly he saw Blue Shiomaru peek above sea, near the same area where they all dived into earlier. Against all logic, the fishman pirates were still here. He had to act, now, and somehow attract his bounty target to him.
“Hey…do I know you? You seem familiar.” Shiomaru now stood behind Keese, curiously observing the man while sniffing at the leg of lamb. The scent of food lured him here, and he decided to investigate. He didn’t remember this man, but recognized he wasn’t in a marine uniform. He hoped he could either sate his curiosity, or sate his curiosity for this new food.
“Blue Shiomaru! Where’d you come from?” Keese was startled, so much so that a tuff of curly hair popped out of his face—another side effect of his abnormally fast growing hair. Instinctively he swung the leg of lamb at the sneaking newcomer. It smacked him in the face, only to get stuck. After a silent few seconds that seemingly lasted forever, the sharkman audibly started gnawing meaty treat. While chewing, the Shiomaru thanked him.
“You…don’t recognize me?” Keese often forgot about the state of the hair on his face, but even then he didn’t understand how this boy could forget him. Between the beatings he gave him, and him wearing the exact same clothes, nothing about this made sense. Still he remembered the 15 million berry bounty, and the opportunity it presented. Now his target was right in front of him, unable to see him as a threat. He didn’t plan it, but he had to try and take this as far as it goes.
“I have a camp a short distance away. There’s more food there! More lamb meat too! How about it?” He pointed at the smoke, and awaited his response while trying to hide his eagerness.
“Not today. I have to go. Thanks for the lamb! I have to tell Peche about this!” Shiomaru, meanwhile, had quickly devoured the leg of lamb down to the done—it being no match for his powerful shark teeth. This man seemed interesting, but in light of his crew’s mission, he couldn’t leave just for the temptation of more food. While he was only out here a short time, that meal alone had made him feel much better. He started to walk away.
“Wait! What if…I have so many thing to tell you! About Karate Island! And Sama!” With his first gambit failing, he’d instead lure this bounty with information. In between this night and the earlier day, he had formed many ideas to capture this bounty, and this one seemed the most obvious and effective. He didn’t even have to lie either—the very reason he was on this island in the first place lied within an incident that happened only a week ago.
“Woah, you know Sama? Well, that’s nice, but a lot of people know about Sama! I really, really have to get going!” Shiomaru made his way towards the cliff, planning to jump back into the ocean.
“Wait!” The martial arts master grew desperate, and threw his trump card to the ground. It was a newspaper. On it was the details of a tragedy. In bold letters it stated on the first page “Fishman Arson Spree takes 200 Homes.” The blue sharkman slowly picked up newspaper, observing the front page picture of a row of houses burnt to the ground.
“Wow…that looks pretty bad. What does it say? I can’t really read any of this.” Shiomaru’s words nearly sent the martial arts teacher reeling. The young man had never had a home all his life, and as such never went to school or learned to read. Everything he learned was from his mentor Sama, and that was simply how to fight and navigation.
“How the hell does a kid get by so long without learning to read!? You idiot! It says a fishman caused havoc on your home island! A fishman you should know very well! It’s Icarus! Do you remember?!” Keese shouted, unable to hold back his rage. Only the temptation of millions of berries stopped him from smacking the boy in the head.
“What? That guy?” However, Shiomaru did know that name. Icarus was a young black sailfish fishman who he had battled a short time ago. In the seas of the Ciudadela Queendom, Berk, Manuke, and himself traveled to this island to help a friend of theirs find his home with the marines. It went as poorly as to be expected, and a fight broke out between pirate and marines. However, it was stopped by the overwhelming power of Queen Olimpia’s fleet, who quickly captured everyone involved. Then, he and the rest of the crew were forced to fight the fleets strongest fighters, and that’s where he met Icarus.
“What does this have to do with me? Our fight is over!” Shiomaru had narrowly won the fight. Icarus, for reasons he did not understand, choose to hide his identity behind a mask and suit—as a means to manufacture his legend and manipulate his reputation. Icarus didn’t fight seriously, allowing him to get in several devastating blows before the fights end. However, he had knocked him into the sea, and that was when the fight changed. In the water, Icarus removed his mask and then brutally beat him with superior strength and speed. The fight made its way back to the deck of a ship, where he had managed to break Icarus’ arm with one well-placed punch. Shiomaru did not understand how prideful Icarus was, and how much his reputation with Queen Olimpia meant to him. Icarus lost control of himself at the end of the fight, and used his fellow soldiers as a veil to stab Shiomaru off guard. Their fight was forcibly stopped, and Icarus was cast out. The Sailfish fishman loudly screamed bloody murder to every pirate and solider there, and promised revenge.
“Yes…I met this man, and he told me some very interesting things! I’ll tell you more, but you have to come to me camp!” Keese hungrily looked over Shiomaru as he held that newspaper. He could see that the young fishman’s curiosity was piqued. The look of concern coming his way gave a clear sign that suddenly the pirate needed something from him, and that’s was the bait for his trap. Everything was working in his favor, and with less effort than expected Shiomaru started following him. He’d lure the fishman more and more inland, seeking to keep him away from the sea. Keese dragged his cart with him, leading the way.
Minutes later, the two stood in a forest, but a crude deerskin tent and a fire pit cooking more lamb meat. Keese dropped his cart, and started to sift through it. As the sharkman observe the tent and the fire, he threw a backpack over his shoulder and stuffed it with his weapons--starting with the nets and poisons. His target seemed to not notice.
"Hey, you mentioned Sama. What's he got to do with all this?" Shiomaru thought about the incident at the Ciudadela Queendom and Icarus--something he hadn't done for a long time. He couldn't imagine it was something that would come up again. However, he was more curious about Sama.
"Well...this Icarus fellow. It turns out he visited Silia the day after he terrorized Karate Island!" As Keese searched for a razor blade, he told the story. He had run into Icarus during his rampage on Karate Island, and luckily managed to talk his way out of attack. No, he was spared because he knew something that could help Icarus. The Sailfish Fishman made no secret he goal on the island. During his last fight with Blue Shiomaru, he let him know he lived on Karate Island and was trained by a man named Sama--and that's where he got this idea. He came here to ruin Shiomaru's home, and kill his Sama person. That's where Keese came in--he knew about Sama, and was willing to tell him where he lived.
"I made a bargain with that freak, and met him again a few days later. While I didn't see it happen, when I met Icarus again, he stood over the burnt ashes of Sama's home!" As he spoke, he shaved his head and face. With his visage revealed, he awaited for the sharkman to recognize him.
"What are you talking about...whoever you are! What happened to Sama?" Shiomaru didn't recognize him. Even if he wasn't more concerned about Sama right now, he had long since forgotten Keese's face. A slab of stone slammed over his head.
"You idiot! How can you not tell who I am?!" From his cart, he pulled another stone slab. On it, it read "Cat" with a crude picture of the animal on it--a teaching aid from his past career. After the incident between Sama and Shiomaru, he had transitioned to teaching martial arts to children.
"I'm telling you that Icarus is an obsessed, bloodthirsty monster, and I told him where Sama lives! Against that kind of beast, a weakling like Sama is clearly dead!" Keese stood over a knocked down Shiomaru, awaiting his response. It could have been anything, he didn't care. The sharkman was trapped now, and he merely waited for an attack which he could counter.
"Wow...you're pretty stupid, aren't you mister?" Shiomaru sat on the ground laughing. He reached over at the fire pit, pulled out a piece of lamb meat, and started chewing it. He was indifferent to Keese's face turning red with anger.