A Clarion Call {Shoguns}

[Flame]

Light poured into the openings, extremely bright at first and slowly but surely reducing in intensity. Pulling the blanket off of her, her red eyes glanced around initially not recognizing the room within which she had been sleeping. With the blanket out of the way, she realized that her legs rather than being on a bed or even a couch were propped up on a table just a steps away from the couch she herself was sitting on. Arms stretching out she finally pulled together enough to realize that she had passed out in the common room. Apparently she had someone to thank for the blanket, her clothes still a little ruffled she pulled them down a bit straightening them as she did. Letting out a yawn she stared around, Pierce was not here, neither was Garuda.

Mmmm... it must be my turn at the helm now. Raising a hand she pinched at the bridge of her nose trying to pick away some of the crud at the corner of her eyes. Then without much of a care in the world she picked her way through the room and out into the main cabin hallway. Everyone's rooms were somewhere down this main alley, but this wasn't what she was here for. Turning she looked down the hallway at the stairwell at the far end. Nodding to herself she really wished she had some coffee or something like that to perk her up. Walking down the hallway she climbed the somewhat creaky stairs and then opened the doorway out into the open air. She breathed it in, the salty air was cool, it felt nice against her skin. Syphalia smiled feeling a little more refreshed now that she was out in the open air. Walking around the cabin entrance she came around to the helm where a familiar sight greeted her.

A tall muscular man with black hair was at the helm. And while at first look it seemed he was paying attention as she moved closer she noticed he was faltering slightly where he was standing. Obviously Garuda was tired, squinting Syph looked up at the sky, given the sun's position she had overslept probably at least two hours. "Oi! Garuda!" She called out to the man who instantly turned as if reawakened.

"Goddammit Syph! You were supposed to be here three damn hours ago." Came Garuda's barking voice in return. Syphalia chuckled slightly before giving her best impression of a guilty look, which was horribly off key. Approaching Garuda she wondered if he was serious about the three hours or if he was just exaggerating for affect. Knowing Garuda either could really be true. Deciding she would try to call his 'bluff' she took the helm from him. "Please Garuda, at most I must be half an hour late." She carelessly flicked her hand at him turning away from Garuda to hide her excellent smile. A loud stomp could be heard as Garuda came to a stop. Wheeling around at her Syphalia felt like she could feel the heat coming from his anger.

"Why I oughtta!!!" Garuda paused, deciding against it, as Syphalia's shoulders had risen as she began to actually eel rather sheepish, perhaps he wasn't exaggerating. Keeping her eyes between the helm and the log pose which was situated beside it she could vaguely hear Garuda's grumblings. "Syph is asleep and Pierce doesn't damn come around to wake her, goddamn these, these-" A loud thwack signaled to her that the cabin door had been closed and the rest of the grumblings were no longer understandable for Syphalia. Laughing she held the helm steady.

"Someone doesn't seem to do well on little sleep." Syphalia mused to herself out loud. Her eyes had to be kept on the horizon so with Pierce not around she had only to talk to herself for any sense of conversation. The seas seemed rather calm at the moment so she decided she could probably just fix the helm in place for now and they would stick on path. Looking around for a moment she spotted a bit of free rope, leaving the helm for a moment she grabbed it and brought it over. Weaving it through the helm she pulled it taut thus holding the helm in position, hopefully. Stepping away she watched her work for a moment, no budging. Seemed to be working, picking up the eternal pose she walked away from the helm.

Walking over to the edge of the ship she rested her arms on the lip of the hull and looked out into the open ocean. It was a peaceful looking ocean, odd given that the Grand Line was known for its crazy weather. No instead it was a calm day, a nice change from the energy of the events of earlier. Stretching her arms out she let out another enormous yawn. I wonder what this Inlet Grove Stop will be like ... She had not actually heard of this island before, which was perhaps a little strange, but then the Grand Line was full of mysteries. Turning around back to face forward she spotted something.

It was small in the distance, but definitely she spotted something. Running over to the front she squinted her eyes, a light white and green sat atop the blue oceans. Pulling out the eternal pose she put it up to her eye following the arrow as it pointed straight at that bunch of white and green in the distance. Land! Inlet Grove Stop! They had made it, she had a great smile. Charging back over to the cabin door she pulled it open and yelled in. "LAND HO!!!!!"

"GOD DAMMIT SYPH LET ME SLEEP!!!" Syphalia could only smile and laugh as she walked back over towards the helm. For this part she needed to be at the helm.

[White Mimic]

“Mmmnnggh.” As the ship rocked back and forth on its coasting voyage, the beam of light shining in through the window in Pierce’s angled up and down in tandem with the motion. The fishman hadn’t even noticed until the unfortunate turn he made in his sheets brought him face to face with the horrible dazzling smile of the sun. His eyes, groggy and crusted over with sleep, opened grumpily as he twisted his head away from incessant radiance. Being free was one thing but if there was any benefit to his old prison cell, any at all, it was that his window was too small and too high up for any light to shine into it uncomfortably. At least not until the fishman had already woken to his own circadian rhythm, but alas that was no longer a luxury for the day.

“Nggggghhhhh.” Pierce sat up from his mat on the floor, glaring at the window as if harboring a grudge for the past 4 years. His eyes hurt not only with the sensation of blinding light but with the discomfort of rousing long before his body would have intended. However, now that he was awake, it wouldn’t be long before the rest of his body caught up and started pushing the slacker out of bed with cricks forming in his back and neck. There was nothing left to do but suck it up and get dressed for the day. Dressing should’ve only taken 5 minutes tops, but the fishman was still nursing the injuries he had taken while escaping from prison and there were plenty of additional steps that had to be taken.

He had gotten quite good at changing out his old bandages for new ones with a new coat of salve, though this was more a testament to his speed, not his quality. While Pierce’s wounds had healed nicely over the several days he had been on this ship with Syph and Garuda, he was still a bit clumsy at putting them on. At the very least, he didn’t need as much gauze anymore as he had used for the first night and the spots around his fins had healed fast enough that he could go the day without binding them to his body. He would still need to clean those bits on his arms and legs thoroughly at the end of the day, but if it meant he could swim freely enough he didn’t care.

After switching out his bandages, Pierce put his shirt and shorts back on before making his drowsy way out to the kitchen for a bite to eat. He was half tempted to make breakfast for himself the usual way this time, but if he did it would be a waste of food and his time for the day. There wasn’t much to do during the days save for shift duties and chores when they came up so all the fishman cook had to occupy himself with was cutting up the rations in workable portions and making food all day to store and eat later. As such, for the sake of his sanity he ignored to raw ingredients in the fridge and reached strait for a small box he had set aside for himself and his two compatriots.

In this case, the box would be for him, but inside the fridge was a neatly ordered stack that anyone could pull from, each containing a single meal Pierce had prepared himself. All anyone would need to do to prepare it was heat it up and stir everything around once in a while so it didn’t burn. It was awful, not his style at all. Unfortunately it was a choice between this, or making everyone’s food at once at the appropriate times, and having nothing to do in the between hours. This seemed like the sanest option given what the crew was working with.

Pierce looked inside the box to see the sectioned off helpings of bacon and eggs, the usual stuff. “Hgh.” He had let out a sigh of stagnant acceptance as he glanced out the kitchen window across the blue field to nowhere. There wasn’t much in the pantry when they got the ship so the chef was limited to the basics for the moment, and while his basics were in excellent form and taste, variety was the spice he needed the most. Honestly, the fishman wanted to dive down to catch something new to make, but every time he had, the fish he brought up didn’t lend themselves to the flavor palettes of the rest of the ships breakfast stores. So, for yet again another morning, Pierce slid the box onto the stove top to let it heat, subjecting himself to another day of a boring routine. Still better than prison though.

The box was built for leftovers, with a metal tray on the bottom designed for later day heating. Pierce sat down in front of the oven, for he was big enough that he could look over the lip of the stove and down into box as it was cooking by the length of his muscular torso alone. He engaged in a short staring contest with his food as it heated, the grease from the bacon slowly starting to sizzle as he twirled some egg around with a fork to keep any of it from burning. He only glanced away from the food once when Garuda stomped by the kitchen door, apparently seething after his shift at the wheel.

As the eggs and bacon started to finish their reinvigoration, Pierce reluctantly got one slice of bread from the bread box on the counter, toasting it a clear area in his heated leftover tray. He really wanted two pieces of toast but they were running out of bread and he didn’t want to be the guy who finished it off. Everything cooked through at about the same time. The eggs were soggy and weird, but also tough in some parts, the grease the bacon was in had started to skin with oil and bubbles were floating in the corners, and the toast was crispy and beautiful save for the flecks of egg slime that had grilled into it. The only thing that was even remotely okay for the chef to look at was the glass of water he had poured to help swallow it all. It would all taste fine, like it usually did, but for the moment it looked horrendous and it would feel weird and alien to his mouth. “This is what my life has become.” Pierce mused begrudgingly as he stared down at his reheated monstrosity, bemused.

The fishman had only started chewing on the unpleasantly textured eggs when Syph called down from the top deck that the ship was approaching land. Not a second later could the ship’s singular kitchen head hear Garuda in the next room over bellowing up at the ceiling to let him sleep off his crankiness. Still waking up out of his own state of morning irritation and slowly chewing on the rubbery eggs with a glazed over look in his eyes, Pierce muttered under his breath “Why don’t you both shut up.” He hadn’t expected Garuda to hear him, but there he was, leaning in the door way. The swordsman had bags under his eyes and his nose had a crinkle of disgust as he glared at the fishman. “What’d you say?”

“Bacon?” Pierce held up one of his 4 slices of fried fat, offering it to the cranky man standing before him. It was a poor attempt at a deflection, but it worked anyway. Still glaring at his fishman crewmate, Garuda disappeared from the doorframe with a half-eaten strip of bacon still hanging out of his munching mouth.

[Flame]

With a pleasant smile upon her face she strolled up to the helm. Taking care to do it properly she unwound the rope she tied about it to keep it in place allowing the helm to run free once again. As the wheel turned free once again it tilted slightly to the right, or it tried to. Syphalia reached out grabbing at it she pulled the wheel back into place. Or at least turned it back to where she thought it had been when they had been running a straight course. Now it was truly time to understand what this 'Inlet Grove Stop' was all about. And slowly but surely as the island came into a better view there were many things that Syphalia found quite surprising.

It was quite a beautiful sight either way, in the foreground the turquoise-ish water sparkled. If she could have left the helm and taken a look down she would have been able to see fairly deep into the massive coral reefs which formed natural underwater barriers. Behind the island there was a rare clear blue sky, the two combined to be an obvious sign of smooth sailing ahead. Which would be a welcome change to the previous roughness of her life. Smack dab in between the sky and the sea was the island, growing larger by the second at first glance it looked like it was a giant forest of an island. Right up to the shore she could see nothing but giant trees rooted to the earth. They soared high into the air, they seemed to be giant-sized trees. Rising hundreds of feet into the air forming a dense canopy far above the reach of any man. Then as they came a little closer she realized something, the earth upon which the trees were rooted did not look like earth. No it was not at all, instead it seemed that the trees themselves, their roots spreading on the surface of the water had such densely packed roots that they themselves became the floor upon which one would walk. Upon them buildings, by the dozen, made themselves obvious, built directly onto the roots, sometimes sitting high above on a root that may have offshoot higher than sea level. What a wondrous island, but if this is truly Inlet Grove Stop ... there must be some actual land here. I doubt these trees are the ones creating this magnetic pull on the pose ...

She looked around suddenly doubting whether this was actually Inlet Grove Stop. The log pose had been pointing at it when it had been nothing but a dot on the horizon so it must be? Puzzled she scratched her head as she maneuvered the boat closer to the island now keeping an eye out for any other boats that might be passing by. In patches along the 'coast' of the upcoming island she could see groups of boats 'docked' along the coast. She assumed they were docked but she had yet to see any wooden structure sitting on the water so that a boat might easily make berth and connect its ramp to the island. The other thing that greeted her as she pulled in closer was a wall, not literally, but it felt like it. At one point she was in the cool ocean breeze and then suddenly there was a heaviness about the air. A humidity which seemed to weigh everything down, while she moved about it, she could already feel herself sweating a little. Boy its hot! She had at one time been a blacksmith so this wasn't anything she couldn't take but it sure was not all too pleasant. Especially if it was always going to be like this, perhaps she would need a fan.

As they came even closer still she noted that there seemed to be fairly few of these giant trees. And their seemingly massive trunks were white in color with what looked to be numbers imprinted upon them. The one closest to them she could make out the number ten on. Spinning the wheel hard to the right she felt the ship groan a little. Fighting against its current heading the rudder pulled the ship into a fast turn. Bringing it quickly parallel to the roots that made up the shore of the island. For a moment she wondered whether dropping anchor would actually do anything to slow the ship's movement. Still she had brought it in a little farther from shore than she would have liked. So maneuvering slightly she turned the boat in a little allowing it to drift closer to shore. Looking around she noticed some free roots nearby that were sticking off of the 'island floor'. It was probably a few meters jump from the boat's port side. Without hesitating she dropped her grip on the helm. This ought to be fun.

Immediately getting into a sprint she charged towards the side of the boat as she did grabbing the free rope on the side of the ship. Jumping once she landed with one foot upon the ship's hull wall. Then she jumped again, launching herself through the air she felt a swift breeze as her boy hurtled forward, it was a refreshingly cool breeze which was a nice change given the current atmosphere. Syphalia did not look down, though she could swim, and she was in no way scared of the water she would rather not get herself wet doing this. Thankfully she had not underestimated her strength and she easily landed atop the grass on the floor of the island. Having pulled the rope all the way over she immediately knotted it to a root that had grown up and out of the ground. Once around, twice around, she double knotted it pulling it tight. Then walking back she was suddenly picked up by something, feeling herself floating into the air she looked down to see an odd bubble lifting her off the ground.

"What the hell is this?!" Surprise came out of her overly loud voice as she tried to figure out how to get off of the bubble.

[White Mimic]

By the time the ship entered the island's coast space, Pierce had already finished eating and had taken to cleaning up the dishes. It would have been nice if he only had to take care of his own, but someone on the ship had decided to leave theirs festering in the sink. The chef couldn't complain, of course, because to some extent it was his job. Plus, it was something to do. As he set aside a dripping tray, stacking it on top of another he had just scrubbed out, he noticed that the stretching blue horizon of the sea had suddenly become a pale green mist decorated with stretching strands of distant wood.

"Huh? Wait?" He approached the porthole and stared out at the trees, first down at the expanse of branching moss that they appeared to grow on, then up into the sky where they stabbed into the fleshy green cloud of their canopy. Pierce had never seen something like this before. So far the islands of the Grand Line he had seen had at least resembled something you might see in the Blues. They said that this sea was a strange place filled with strange things and the fishman had just taken that to mean everything was foreign and new. But this, this seemed almost completely alien for even the air had looked a little different. It probably even felt a bit different, by the looks of it with it's verdant puffiness.

And yet it seemed a tad familiar. Odd.

Pierce hastily finished up the rest of the dishes before rushing up to the main deck to get a better look at this new and fascinating destination. The trees were, in actuality, much bigger than he had anticipated based on those he saw through the window. In fact, the entire island appeared to be made out of the twisting roots melting out of the base of the trunks and covered in a pulpy, shining grass. On each tree was a large white number that was either carved or painted on, they weren't close enough to get a good judgment on that.

There was a sweltering wet heat to the air that Pierce rather enjoyed; it reminded him of home. Of course, back home he might have been the only one who actually liked the humidity of summer. Humans there found the drier temperate winters much more tolerable, for whatever reason. 'I think I already like this place.' In addition to its agreeable climate, the fishman was also mystified by the almost etheral landscape of mist, trees stretching ever upward, and bubbles of all sizes whimsically floating to the heavens. The strange new sight was almost overwhelming to the pirate's previous world view, but some of it was likely also just the fact that he was no longer in prison. "This is amazing! Look at this! You ever see anything like it?" The fishman was energetically looking around for Syph now, considering it was her shift at the helm. The girl, however, was mysteriously absent. "S-Syph?"

He heard an outburst just behind him, beyond the hull of the ship as it loosely drifted just off the tangle of roots of the closest tree, number 10. Whirling around in response to the noise, Pierce was met face to face with Syph, balancing and floating around on a bubble as she looked around confounded. "Ahh!" The fishman hurried off the edge of the ship, leaping over the rail and plunging legs first into the water below. As the water rushed up over his head, his fins unfurled and scooped the fluid beneath them. As he came to a sudden stop with the water current twirling in his quilled wingspan, he immediately thrust himself upwards through the surface with a mighty flap of his arms and legs. The pirate torpedoed out of the sea, launching himself up onto the roots of the tree with a spray of salty foam following close behind.

Droplets of water fell with Pierce as he landed on the mossy looking grass, plopping silently as they impacted into the plush surface. The large fishman, however, was a different matter altogether. As soon as he bare feet tried to stick the landing, the slick texture of the grass was made quite apparent and 'sticking' was evidently out of the question. While his downward momentum was braced and caught by strong thick wood of the root he landed on, Pierce had continued to move forward. Unprepared for this, the fishman's webbed feet slid up from underneath him and gravity did the rest. His back slammed into the ground and he was given a view of the trunks reaching up into the green cloud above the forest. "Ow."

Pierce reached up to rub the back of his aching head but soon realized that the so called green cloud was moving, and Syph's bubble was quickly sliding away from him. There was a swift brushing underneath him that felt pleasant against his dorsal fin until he realized what was happening. "Oh. Oh NO! WAIT!" The pirate grasped out around him, trying to grip the grass he was now sliding down. All he could manage was ripping a few handfuls of the slippery reeds off the root before plunging head first back into the water. "Dang it!"

[Flame]

Not exactly wishing to fall rather than jump off Syphalia slid around on the top of the bubble without much success. Finally deciding nothing better would do she tried to stand on it. Pulling one leg into the air she maneuvered her body twisting and turning while keeping as many limbs as possible upon the bubble before stepping down with one foot. Unlike how she had predicted her foot slid through the bubble's exterior. With it came her leg as she suddenly found herself with one leg in the bubble and the rest of her body sliding in. Her butt submerged followed by her right leg and foot and then finally her chest began to go down.

At some point so much of her body had dropped in that her head was above her arms she had brought inside and her legs were now popping out of the bottom leaving her feet too freely wiggle in the air. This is humiliating ... The sound of laughter suddenly became apparent to her as behind her a few shop goers were sitting at their tables drinking, pointing, and laughing. Wiggling her legs slightly she found it didn't help, the bubble was conforming to her very well and didn't seem to want to pop or break even with her protruding from it. With the laughter continuing she sighed, before a voice called out to her. "It won't break unless you make a large enough hole in it!" Large enough huh? She would have to thank the owner of that voice later if she could track him dow. She assumed it was a him based on the depth of the voice. Well that was a task for later after she had both gotten down from here and completed the tasks that were necessary to be done on this island, there was of course an agenda. Shaking her head slightly her hands shuffled around slightly finding a grip on the hilt of her sword.

Deciding not to look down, as she would've seen herself quite a few body lengths up in the air she closed her eyes. Iaido Hou The name of the technique sounded in her head as her sword swung out blasting a circular hole straight through the wall of the bubble in front of her. No luck, instead she blew herself inward toward the island with that outburst of air. But now with her sword drawn she smiled slightly. This would only take a second, flourishing her sword she made a sequence of rapid movements. Her sword swung around like crazy, flashes of its silver blade seeming to be all around here and suddenly, pop. The bubble which had caught her and was lifting her into the popped dissipating into miniature bubbles which rose above her head faster than she ... no she expected this. Because simply put she was falling, the ground flew toward her feet quickly and now she looked down.

There was a method to falling, if she hit the ground and rolled it would likely save her some of the pain of slamming into the ground. Pulling her legs in she gave them a little space to bend as they landed. Closer, closer, the ground came to her and then wham, she felt her legs bend without her permission. Immediately she leaned into a roll, catching the force she pressed it into an spin out on the grass. Still a familiar soreness was apparent upon her whole body as she groaned laying there on the grass. The sound of footsteps alerted her that someone was coming. No she didn't need their help, forcing herself a little her upper body lurched off the ground and she raised a hand with an open palm towards the civilians. "I'm fine. I'm just fine." Came her somewhat weak voice, this was not what she needed upon landing on the island.

A few more steps were heard by her coming in her direction so finally Syphalia decided to prove her ok-ness. She did so simply by jumping to her feet, to many of the onlookers amazement she moved as if she had not been hurt. In fact it was a little stressful as she forced her muscles to do things they probably shouldn't be doing. But she didn't need nor want help right now. So slowly as the crowd began to disperse she walked back to the shoreline. Garuda was still in the ship she was sure. But Pierce, she could've sworn she heard his voice while she was trying to deal with the d*mned bubble.

Inching closer to the edge she looked around, first towards the deck of the ship. There was no sign of him there, then glancing down she noticed some odd marking on the ground before her. What seemed to be scratch marks or something and matted grass sliding off the edge and back into the water. He couldn't have ... A thought popped into her head a furiously hilarious one. Taking care with her footing she edged around until she finally found what she was looking for.

Down below in the water was the familiar orange-ish figure of Pierce. "Need some help?" She called down to him bringing her hands together to create a cone aiming it at him. "If not I'm going to head to the main hall or something. Figure out whats going on here and any information we can get about the next Island." Giggling a little she took a few steps away from the shore and stopped. Perking her ear up as best she could she listened for his eventual response. Or possibly better him landing on the ground and joining her.

[White Mimic]

The orange silhouette in white and black waved through the underside of the water, distorted among the waves. Pierce’s shape seemed to sink down a bit, quickly as if on purpose. He darted back and forth in the water before the colors of his skin and clothes became more vibrant as they approached the surface once more. His head suddenly sprang from the chopping blanket of the sea, splashing droplets into the air as he glanced left and right in a brief search for Syph. Naturally, she had made her way off the bubble but the fishman was too excited by what he had just seen. “Syph! You won’t believe this! There are houses down there, built into the roots of these… uh… trees, I guess.” He brought a webbed hand out of the water, waving it around as he gestured the mighty pillars of wood that stretched onward through the bubbling mist. Drips were shook off harmlessly as his excitement returned to him at what he had just seen.

When he had plunged head first into the drink, Pierce had been facing away from the island and downward. All was pink and red and orange as he had seen his first coral reef of the Grand Line. It was impressive but the fishman had seen plenty of coral in his wanderings so all he could legitimately give it credit for was that it was big and pretty. Once he had flipped in the water to regain his baubles, however, his opinion made a turn just as dramatic. Creeping blooms of coral clambered up the roots like mushrooms, growing into round stepped staircases all the way up to just underneath the roots. When he had first seen them, the fishman believed the outcroppings to be as barnacles, coral that just grew naturally in patchy, clinging structures. A brief second gaze revealed that many if not all of the stony organic flowers had all the qualities of the houses he had become familiar with above the sea. Round doorways and windows, dimly glowing with the warm light of a home. People were living down here! Hardly able to contain his excited confusion, Pierce couldn’t help but rush back up to tell Syph, completely forgetting her predicament altogether.

Allowing his gesturing hand to drop back into the water, the fishman beamed up at his companion, already knowing what he wanted to do while the three of them were here. “It’s so cool! You have to see, c’mon!” Almost immediately, Pierce dived back into the blue-green depths of the ocean, his foreign colors disappearing from view for all but a few seconds. After diving down several yards, the obvious realization washed over the fishman’s elation and he returned once more to the wooden beach. As his head poked back up into the air of the world above, his beaming smile had become a grin of nervous embarrassment. He didn’t even give Syph the time to needle him. “Right. Sorry, I… Sorry.” To his knowledge, the fishman had never forgotten the shortcomings of the human race so this was his first time assuming someone could so easily follow his lead, much to his chagrin.

“Uhm… y-yeah. Main hall. Got it.” Pierce was looking back and forth between Syph and the ship, quickly weighing his options since he knew Syph wasn’t one to wait on others. This was rather unfortunate as he realized that he was still only wearing what he had slept in and needed to go get his other clothes, or his sandals at the very least. “You go on ahead, I’ll catch up. Not exactly in my Sunday best yet.” He pulled up on the neck of his shirt to show what he was talking about before twisting around in the water back to the ship.

Just before reaching it, he plunged back down into the water to shoot himself back up with a powerful stroke of his arms and a vigorous thrust of his legs. Pierce flew up through the air like a frilled spear before landing on the deck, sloshing the water that came with him on top. The benefit of having such a small ship with his injuries was that he didn’t need to exert himself to any stressful pain to push himself that high, though the landings still stung a bit behind his knees. Or was it in his thighs? Sometimes the pain changed from day to day, but maybe it was because he kept landing differently in anticipation of whichever sting he might feel. The fishman gingerly rubbed the wet bandages on his legs before heading back down to his room. He found that the gauze was quick to dry and that the ointment he used was oil based. It was altogether soothing and uncomfortable, but if his medication allowed him to swim more frequently, it was a god send.

Before Syph got too far ahead of him, Pierce hastily threw on the sleeveless hoodie over his wet t-shirt. The feeling of donning something dry over something sopping wet was always weird but when the fishman had the opportunity, that dry feeling never lasted too long. As he slid his feet into the sandals that had been laying disorganized on the floor, he grabbed his blue bandana and wrapped it tightly around his forehead. It was nice to have foot wear after so many weeks of being forced to go barefoot on the discomfort of stone. Even more enjoyable was that he could wear the bandana, the last remnant of his old catering uniform, without fear of it being confiscated by some marine with an uptight sense of prison dress code.

Before leaving, Pierce stopped himself in front of a mirror to check himself out. It wouldn’t be long, and by this time he imagined Syph had already left him in the dust. The dryness of his hoodie and bandana in contrast to the dripping soak of nearly everything else was a bit dissonant, but overall he still liked looking at himself in these clothes that Jasmine had gifted to him. They were his only clothes at the moment outside of a prison jumper that had been discarded days ago, and he was hoping to pick up some more. But he wondered if he would even be able to find any clothes that made him feel as confident about himself as the ones Lt. Whistler left for him. He gave a little flex, feeling the tight wet sleeve of his t-shirt hug his shoulder as it bulged slightly. “Haha… oh. Right.” Tightening the bandana once again for good measure, the fishman ran back up to the top deck and dove back over the edge into the blue-green surface below.

As soon as he was submerged, the fishman’s form curled up back towards the roots and shot up out of the water. Pierce made sure to land more carefully this time with the slickness of the grass in mind. He only skidded a little bit before coming to a complete standing stop. “Alright, town center. Now where would that be?”

[Flame]

She paused as Pierce's voice called back up to her. He had found to some amazement a bunch of housing beneath these massive trees. Obviously for his own kind and possibly mermaids he must have been very excited. Especially given the reaction he was currently having, it was quite amusing, so for a moment she walked back over to the edge. Her hands were interlaced with each other as she looked over back down at where she had last seen Pierce. And suddenly he popped out again asking her to come down and see what he was seeing. She paused and looked at him, was he crazy or something?

Her face scrunched up as she stared down the fishman as he bobbed up and down in the water. She was almost abut to say something when he dived back down again. Shaking her head she laughed to herself a little. She had not seen Pierce this happy, in well, ever. It was an odd realization, for having been on the same crew for a while they really had not connected all that much. Pinching her nose, she rubbed its bridge for a little while until the sound of moving water alerted her that Pierce was returning to the surface. This time he had an amusingly reddened face as he offered his apologies for saying something so stupid. Smiling at him as he awkwardly continued to talk glancing back at the ship and then forwards towards her again. After doing that a few times he once again mentioned the main hall and then told her to go on ahead. Nodding she smiled "Sounds like a plan, I'll see you there."

Then turning around she headed straight to one of the nearest stalls. Approaching the man at the stall who was happily selling grilled fish she looked at him and smiled. Placing her hand on the hilt of her sword for a bit of good measure she asked him. "Do you know where I might find a town hall, or main visitor's building or something like that." The man turned and looked at her with a grand smile, he seemed to think her some tourist or something because he did not seem like he felt threatened at all. "Hello young lady, would you like some grilled Klarian on a fish?" The man might as well of had dollar signs in his eyes as he held his two hands together and gave her his best smile. Syphalia was not amused, not amused at all. Her hand rolled down the hilt of her sword and flicked it up a little, allowing the metal to slide against the edge of sheath making a light sound to garner the man's attention.

The man surprised at the sound stood up a little to look over his cart and view her more carefully. His eyes crossing over her until they fell on and became tied to the hilt of a sword being precociously angled up towards him. Giving him a wide smile she spoke in a falsely sweet voice "The main building?" She stared him down, there was no amusement in her voice at this point. The vendor shivering pointed towards the area behind him. His voice now jittery and scared "I-it's between groves four-fourteen and eight. Just wa-walk back that way and take a le-le-le-left." Highly amused by this point she smiled, bowed slightly to thank him for his help before walking by him. She also managed to slip a hand into his stall and grab a freshly cooked piece of Klarian Fish on a stick. The man was too out of it to even try and stop her.

Laughing to herself she walked through this area full of restaurants and other shops. To her right she noted a large tree with the number nine emblazoned atop it. The place itself seemed rather nice, while the buildings at time looked a bit old there was some charm to them. And as she carefully stepped around large bubbles appearing out of the ground like the one she had been lifted into the air by earlier she snacked on the grilled fish in her hand. One bite was enough to convince her, this was some really great stuff. 'Klarian Fish' did they call it? She had never heard of it herself, maybe they could get some and Pierce could cook it up for them. That would be nice, she smiled to herself. Now all they needed was directions and possibly some money.

She had noted earlier while on the ship that between the three of them they basically had minimal funds to get anything. There were a few options to make money, of course there was bounty hunting, but Syphalia was not completely sure that they'd be able to turn in anyone with bounties on all their heads. There was selling her swords, but she didn't have any of the ones she had made a while back. In the rush to get away from Port West she had left them all behind. So there must have been something that they could do here to make a little cash. Ehhh we'll figure something out ... The final thought crossed her head as she noticed another one of the giant trees. With the number eight upon its trunk she knew it was time to turn left. Looking over she could barely make out another tree a little while's away. But as she looked the path seemed to fall away at some point, the ground dropping down out of view. Was this right? Confused she started to walk over. Then finally noticing a large building coming out of that hole in the path. Rising out of the hole it had a rather grand look to it. It must be the town hall. That thought crossed her mind and she smiled. The next step was ahead.

[White Mimic]

Syph was nowhere to be seen, though Pierce had an idea which direction she had gone. Not too far off he could see buildings dotting the misty landscape further into the forest. The collections of buildings seemed to climb up the base of the trees, but unlike the houses of coral underneath the island, these buildings only climbed up the trees for a few meters before the bark continued upwards, unblemished by construction. There didn’t seem to be anywhere else to go unless Syph had decided to walk along the ‘beach’ but why would anyone do that when the closest signs of civilization were right there.

However, as Pierce looked further inland, the paths among the buildings seemed to have been built in a more organic fashion, no easily navigated grids or corners. Everything seemed rounded and curving across the rolling hills formed by the roots twisting underneath the moss. Looking at it all was a little intimidating for the foreign fishman. “Uh… uh- hmm…” The paths of the town before him were gently flowing with the day-to-day crowds of the urban setting and he wouldn’t have been able to see Syph from her if he wanted to. So, he would have to settle for the next best thing.

“Uhm, excuse me, hi.” Pierce wandered over to a nearby food stand, still staring at the hustle and bustle of the town built under the tree marked with a 10. “Have you seen a- woah, everything okay there?” What the chef thought was another cook prepping food was actually a cook hyperventilating over a table in the back, huddled over with a hand on his forehead. It was as if the man had just had a near death experience. “Yep, yeah everything is fine.” The cook in the booth rubbed his temples as he turned around to address his new, hopefully better customer. “Sorry, what can I do for yAGH!” The sight of a muscular 9 foot fishman leaning down to get a good view into the booth nearly triggered a heart attack in the poor guy. Of course the sudden spike in volume was a bit startling for the piscine customer as well.

Pierce jumped a little in place, leaning away from the booth with his eyes wide. “Agh! Sorry.” The cook didn’t respond. All he could do was stare in terror, his eyes darting between the fishman and the food that was on sale. “Didn’t mean to sneak up on you like that, sir. Just looking for a friend. Have you seen a girl come through here? Short hair? This tall?” The pirate had put one hand down to about his waist to illustrate how much shorter Syph was than himself. No response. The cook continued to stare at the muscular frame in front of him, holding his breath out of fear. “No? Alright that’s fine. Thanks anyway.”

Pierce began turning away, looking for someone else to ask about Syph when he saw what was being sold at the booth. It was clearly fish, but the way it looked and smelled was almost familiar if it weren’t for the heavy spicing covering it all up. “Hm? Outta curiosity, what is that?” When the fishman pointed at the grilled fish in the stall, the cook seemed to calm down a tad, although his fear was replaced with caution. This man in front of him was no human, that was for sure, but he didn’t immediately recognize Klarion meat? He was a foreigner, just like the girl. The instinct to take advantage of a tourist briefly returned, but then the cook realized that this orange fishman was in league with that girl that had passed through only moments before. “I-it’s Klarion.”

“Woah, seriously?” Pierce crouched down to get a better look. He had seen Klarion meat before and knew the idea of how to prepare it but had never gotten the chance to work with it himself, he was too young before. The way it had currently been grilled and spiced, however, was new to him. It must’ve been the local method of preparation, and boy did the fishman want to give it a try, but at the moment he was fresh out of prison and completely broke. “Looks good. Wish I could try some.” He smiled a little bit while licking his lips, a completely innocent gesture which worked in his favor.

The man in the stall saw the smile and could only see the sharp teeth glistening in Pierce’s mouth, accentuated by the visualized bloodlust in the licking of his lips. The cook once again thought of the danger the girl had brought to his little business and compared it against the fishman in front of him. If that smaller girl was in league with this bruiser, chances were he would be just as violent if he were dissatisfied. He hastily grabbed one and passed one to his ‘customer’. “Oh go ahead! Knock yourself out! On the house, ahahahaHAAHAHA!” The cook was sweating as he laughed nervously.

Hesitant at first, Pierce took the fish that was offered to him. “Serious? No, no, I really shouldn-” The cook interrupted, insisting on the option that he figured would cause less trouble for him down the line. “First one’s free! Enjoy your stay!” He gave a nervous smile that came across like a terrified shock. It was a style of fear Pierce hadn’t seen directed at him before, a false courtesy, but if it was something he was gunna benefit from, who was he to argue. “Oh, sweet, thanks! Uhmm…” The cook was clearly uncomfortable so it felt inappropriate to ask, but Pierce was sure he would’ve gotten lost if he didn’t. He looked back up into town where the bustle had continued. “You wouldn’t happen to know where the Town Center would be, would you? Meeting a friend there.”

[Flame]

There were two ways down to what she would now on call, the actual island. It was in fact a rather small piece of land that stuck out from the ground that apparently had a magnetic pull. With some luck the Island called Inlet Grove Stop had grown in around it as a mass of whatever these large trees were. Or at least she assumed this was the case. But back to the two ways down, the first was to jump, or probably better said drop. It was only perhaps five or six feet from the ground level on the tree to the ground level of the island. It was faster that was for sure than the other way, which was a large stairway. Built atop the island it led up to tree's roots where they formed the ground. It was slightly crowded but otherwise much safer. For Syph at least the question of which route to take only took a few seconds. Happily she walked straight up to the edge and with a quick hop launched herself into the air.

Her descent was quick and the landing much softer than quite a few landing she now had within her recent memory. She was becoming all too used to falling onto her back. Laughing Syphalia wondered whether this would result in her having back pain earlier than she should. But untroubled this time she landed daintily on her feet, not even having to brace the impact more than bending her leg it was a welcome change that was for sure. From where she was standing there was any number of men and women passing up and down stairwells on either side of this the actual island. At the center of all this movement was a large building, rising up towards the canopy it appeared to be at the least five stories high which was pretty large all things considered. But more impressive was the architecture, the building was grand in a way that none of the other buildings on the island were. At least as far as she had seen that was true. The old brickwork of the building showed age as well as a working effort to keep it looking nice. There was no creaking, or rotting that might have been seen on a building of its age.

Slowly she walked around to the front of the building, the entrance was surprisingly done with glass doors, they seemed to be tinted a whitish color so they were not so easy to look into. On a large board the words 'INLET GROVE GUILD HEADQUARTERS' was written in large bold white letters. Syphalia frowned slightly, Guild Headquarters? This isn't what I need ... She sighed before turning around and stepping in front of the first person that walked before her. Well at least if there were so many people here she could stop one and get directions again. "Do you perhaps know where the visitor center or town hall of this island is?" She asked nicely and politely.

The man, dressed as he was in a fine looking tunic and long trousers on looked at her seeming quite confused by her question. "It's this building right here." He said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. After waiting a few seconds gazing at her still confused face made him decide that she would actually need help. Thankfully he was in fact a guild representative and a nice one at that. "Here let me help you. What exactly are you looking for?" He smiled as he looked down at her with caring eyes. "Information on the next island, how long I have to stay here for the log pose to set. The usual travelling stuff." Syphalia said carefully, she did not want to alert the man that she was a pirate. Based on the way she had seen people dressing here she probably did not look particularly odd to him save the sword at her waist.

Leading her inside he began to speak. "Well, where to begin, ah the next island after this is known as Blue Lagoon. It is an underwater island. Ahh-" He raised his hand before her mouth as she was about to ask a question. The obvious question of course, how were they supposed to get there. It was underwater for pity sake, maybe Pierce could swim down to it but she could not. And if the log pose time there was any long she would be stuck on the ship without their cook for god knows how long. Not that she disliked Garuda or anything but she preferred to have Pierce's cooking over her own or what she assumed anything Garuda made would taste like.

"Luckily, this island is specifically good at ship coating due to the large Yarukiman Mangroves that form the majority of the island. If you don't know what that is just know that it allows ships to sail underwater. You can get one done for tens of thousand of beri." Syphalia made no comment about how they had no capability of paying that much at the moment though made a note to ask if there were any fast ways to make money on the island. "As for the log pose, just go over there and someone will help you out." The man pointed to a shop inside the building, upon it was the title 'LOG POSE TRADING POST'. "Now then I must be off, work to do. If you need a coater, anyone in the many offices of this building is a good person to go to." He gave her a smile and walked off before she could call him and ask her other question. Untroubled she looked over to the trading post, for a moment wondering where Pierce was. Ahh whatever, no time to waste.

[White Mimic]

The directions Pierce had received were simple enough to follow: grove 14 and grove 8, between those two, take a left… somewhere. He had followed the way that the cook had pointed out for him, taking the first left, but after that he was too nervous about getting lost to make any sudden deviations. Everything was so different here, the way the streets were shaped, the way the buildings looked, even the crowds felt eerily different. The fishman had expected more reaction along the line of the cook he had snuck up on, but was pleasantly surprised in an uncomfortable sort of way. As he walked along the curving paths, he didn’t get the glares or panicked stares as were typical for him. There were gawkers to be sure and people kept their distance from him when they could, but what once was fearful and, at times, hostile had become cautious and tolerant. It was definitely a step up from the usual goings on but the sudden and unannounced change was jarring.

In an effort to keep to himself and not accidentally rock the boat, Pierce took a bite of his Grilled Klarion. It just about tasted how he remembered it, or the meat forming the base did. “Mmm… hmm…” The way the snack was spiced was mixed a bit unevenly and it felt like the seasoning was trying to take control of the spotlight. Or that’s what it felt like from the outsider perspective as differing cultures and locales prized certain qualities in food in lieu of others. For instance, on one island the fishman visited while working with the catering company, the more popular desserts were salty as opposed to sweet. By that example alone, far be it from a stranger in a strange land to criticize what might be the norm. Then again, the food did come out of a street side stand.

Slowly devouring the fish from the stick on which it was skewered, Pierce noticed that the ‘grove’ he was on was filled with business. No building looked quite like a livable house and products filled the windows he passed. When there weren’t clothes on display, there were books. When there weren’t books, there was food of varying types. Failing that, a store would either be a restaurant or a small stand selling whatever it pleased. It was as if the entire grove were one giant business district and farmer’s market all rolled up into one.

Something did stick out as strange to the fishman though. Quite a few of the stands and even the restaurants he could see into and identify the dishes were keen on fish as a staple. Klarion in particular seemed to be the biggest menu connection amongst everyone. At first, Pierce glanced down at his spicy grilled fish on a stick dejectedly. ‘I could’ve gotten something better?’ Compared to the other options being offered on his walk through the grove, the fish on a stick looked like he would’ve made when he was first starting out as an apprentice washing dishes. Even then, it was something that Jeri probably would’ve been disappointed in, something she would outright let one of her students know.

Grimacing at the idea that he was unnecessarily eating some inferior dish, Pierce looked back into the food stands he was passing. The smells of spices, oils, and roasting meat indicated that each cook prepared their Klarion a little differently. Something that seemed to be a common factor in each dish outside of the meat they were using was the strength of the spices. ‘Geez, the phrase ‘tone it down’ occur to anyone here? Woah, wait a minute.’ As he finally got a good look past the crowds at a menu board that was placed low enough for him to read without bending over, the fishman saw the other linking trait between most of the Klarion dishes: their price.

Pierce’s eyes widened, reading a number that looked like it should have paid for two, maybe even three entrées. Then he saw what it paid for, a Klarion fish kebob, the meat chopped into chunks, spiced, grilled, and separated with vegetables like peppers and onions on a skewer. “Holy- wh-what!?” Stunned at the difference between price and quality of the foods he was looking at, the fishman chef couldn’t help but glance down at the grilled fish on a stick he was still finishing off. ‘How much money have I eaten just now?’ How eager was the cook he got this from to get rid of him if he was willing to freely part with something that cost a proportional arm and a leg. Then again, it didn’t matter how expensive it was. It could’ve been the cheapest dish in the world and he wouldn’t have been able to afford it.

Suddenly, an idea dawned on Pierce who continued staring at the price. He glanced around, looking for another price board. The next Klarion based dish he saw was a curry bowl being sold out of a stand on the other side of the road. The price wasn’t that much more than the kebob. Strange, considering curry required more effort and ingredients to make. Now walking along the street at an inquisitive pace, the chef tried to look at every menu he could see when it came up. All the dishes with Klarion were similarly priced with little variation based on what went into them, meaning one thing: The market price must’ve been astronomical, even here in the animal’s natural habitat. Perhaps there weren’t that many, or it was quite difficult to catch but one way or another, the fishman had an idea on how to make a little bit of shopping money.

[Flame]

As she walked over she noticed that calling it a shop was a bit of a misnomer. It was in fact a place for trading, as she paused on her walk over to spy and see what someone else was doing. The shop entrance was not actually an entrance, it was simply a desk. In many ways it was like a help desk, the shopper stayed outside of the actual premises and it appeared simply handed a log pose to the attendant. The attendant would turn around into the shop and then reappear moments later with a log pose. Probably not the same one they had just been given, that was easy to tell given that the log pose was now pointing off in a direction different from any that was brought in it seemed.

The whole procedure seemed pretty simple, take one and leave one. Syphalia smiled it was quite the smart idea and she was actually quite surprised no one had done this on any of the other islands she had been on. Reaching into the satchel at her waist she reached in and felt around for the pose. Then stopped, pausing for a moment as a thought passed through her mind. I wonder if they'll accept the eternal pose in trade for a log pose ... It was an idea, though thinking it over she decided it was actually not a good idea. At least if they kept the eternal pose they could always head back to Inlet Grove Stop. Then if they had a log pose as well they'd still be able to continue on their journey without issue. Yep, perhaps they could even come back here for another coating and then head out to other islands so long as whatever this coating this was didn't take as long as the log pose reset. That might be useful if whatever this coating this was did not last the while.

Nodding to herself she was fairly sure of how everything would go now she grasped one orb in particular, based on the shape of the orb's base she could determine which one was which. Pulling one out she was happy to see that she had correctly selected the log pose she had obtained a while back. It was pointing, well off in some random direction, probably the next island after Port West, whichever that was. It was a little strange but no matter, raising her head proudly she marched up to the trading post. Behind the desk a young girl, probably no older than herself smiled at her. "Ahh, if you'll just hand me that, I can get you a preset one." Syphalia glanced at the girl, with her red hair and simply uniform. She was quite cute ... finding it odd she had had such a thought she paused as she laid out the item before the girl. The girl swiped it up and turned around, it was only then Syphalia broken from her momentary thought actually looked behind her.

In rows upon rows there seemed to be sets of log poses just sitting around. A virtual gold mine of them, she could only guess how much beri all of them were worth. The girl walked to one end of the table they were on and placed Syph's log pose. Then walking to the other side grabbed one off the end. Taking a closer look at the table she could barely make out numbers near each row. As the girl returned Syphalia stopped squinting, she could always just ask the girl what it all was. "Here you go, this ones already set. Thank you for your patronage." It was a sweet line and the girl gave her a dazzling smile that gave Syph pause for a second. She had never been particularly attracted to girls, but perhaps overexposure to Garuda, Jack, and Pierce had changed her ... She shook it off.

"Ahh, excuse me. Could you explain whats happening back there to me." Reaching over the table she grabbed the girl's shoulder for a moment. The redhead spun around a little surprised but quickly collected herself. And blushing a little Syphalia pulled her hand back. Now she was quite confused with herself, it was quite unlike her to, for one blush, or even be embarrassed in the slightest at least in this way. "Ahh well, as you know the log pose time of this island is four months." She paused as she saw Syphalia's eyes watching her with a little too much intensity. "Umm ... excuse me?" The hand waved in front of Syph's face calling her back to reality. The redhead was now looking at her with a fair bit of confusion on her face. "Uhh ... go on, four months you said?" Syphalia collected herself this was so unlike her. Shaking her head it suddenly came to her, if she had not done this they'd be stuck here for four months. Thank god this trading post exists ...

"Yes so, as you can see we have a bunch of log poses here, as time passes we move them across the table as they move from not set to set. Simple enough right?" Syphalia nodded back to her. "Yeah well thats it. Any more questions before I leave you?"

Yes, so many questions, first was she fr- NO, No, priorities! This is no place for such thoughts. Controlling herself Syphalia took a deep breath. "Yes, two questions actually. First, do you have any ship coaters you would recommend. And second, is there a good fast way to make money on this island." The girl looked at her, leaning over the table a little revealing slightly a very petite chest she looked Syphalia over. Noticing the sword at her side she dropped back down and then smiled at her once again.

"Yes, theres a man on the second floor by the name of Balian Dreya. He is an excellent coater and if I remember not too expensive. As for fast money, that depends on how much you need. But generally the fastest way is to catch the Klarian Fish that make their home beneath the waters." She paused frowning for a moment as if thinking whether she should include the last bit. "It isn't a very safe thing to do, they have sword like noses and then of course there is the Water Basilisk ..." Her thoughts seemed to drift aside for a moment before she pulled them back and becoming attentive of Syphalia once more she said "Its not a task for those unprepared or light of heart. Do be careful." That last line was accompanied by a light-hearted wink at Syphalia. Unsure of how to take this Syphalia simply bowed.

"Yeah uhh, th-thanks for the help." She stammered out before walking off hiding another bit of redness in her face. Klarian Fish huh ... that was if I remember correctly what I stole from that stall. But its a fish how exactly am I supposed to catch it. Oh wait, Pierce! The thought of the fishman reminded her she had the perfect friend to do the job for her. She'd prefer to be able to help but she was incapable of swimming for long enough to likely be of any use. Now she just had to find him. She stepped out of the guild house and then looked left then right. The coater would come lately, money was first. Which meant in essence, finding Pierce was first, where the hell was he?

[White Mimic]

Determined, Pierce clutched the fish-on-a-stick in his hand tightly, nearly breaking it into splinters at first. He ducked under a curtain into one of the larger food stands, a fully furnished and established ramen booth. Brushing one of the flaps aside allowed the strong and unmistakable scent of Shio broth to waft through, a plume of Klarion hinted steam accompanying it. It seemed the fish was spiced pretty heavily hear as well for the steam caused the new customers eyes to water as he stepped inside the booth, now barely able to make out the chefs.

“Welcome!” A deep woman’s voice called up to the towering fishman as he made his way through the eddying cloud of flavor. It was jovial but it had a commanding timbre to it. Even further behind the woman, Pierce could swear he heard a child whispering but the noise of the tiny bustling kitchen before him drowned out any chance he had at making out what it was saying. “Hello. Egh… ow…” The tall young man leaned down out of the cloud, and rubbed his eyes but refrained from taking a seat. Through the watering haze of his clouded view, there were only two seats available, both of which were next to humans who had started staring at him, or he thought they were based on the melting colors of their heads. He also didn’t want to rudely give off the impression that he was here to eat if he wasn’t going to order.

As the spice riddled tears in his eyes welled down, Pierce could see the chefs behind the counter now that he was out of the hot grey cloud looming overhead. The woman who was staring straight at him with a cheerful freckled face looked like she owned the voice that had called to him. Her body was stout and powerfully rounded, and her coils of red curly hair were both bound in a ponytail behind her head and held tightly to her forehead by a cooking hachimaki. At the moment, she was busy cutting a long folded sheet of egg dough into ramen. Behind her was a little boy who looked to be her son and a short old woman who was, following in theme, was likely to be her mother. The little boy looked to be 11 years old and was busy preparing the ramen stock as he stared over at the old woman. Chopped meats, vegetables, and several balls of dough sat on a preparation table nearby as she stood on a wobbling stool, shakily setting a towel over one of the menu boards in back.

‘Why do people keep doing that?’ It seemed strange to Pierce that for the second time in a row, the owners of a food service were trying to hide only a fragment of the menu from him. The thought soon escaped him however as he tried to stifle a giggle. It was surprisingly funny watching a rickety old woman teeter around on a stool as she tried to throw a towel over something with old, wrinkled and shaking hands. And then he felt like a bad person.

Nervously scratching his head as he continued keeping his schadenfreude to himself, Pierce attempted to cut to the chase so that none of the customers still staring at him felt too uncomfortable. Some had even slid their bowls of ramen a bit to hide them from the fishman. Nevertheless, he tried to stay focused on his objective, putting on a look of eagerness that came across more anxious than anything else. “Ahehehem, sorry, I was just wondering, uh…” Glancing at the menu, the broke pirate noticed that something was missing, likely what the grandma had covered. His chef nose could not fall for such a lie, however, so he knew these people would have the answer. “Uh… what exactly is the current market price for Klarion?”

The woman in front suddenly stopped cutting into the folded dough and stared hesitantly at Pierce. The little boy seemed a little more shaken and cautious than his mother, but the grandma was completely unfazed. She was more concerned with safely and slowly climbing down from her stool, moving as if she had offset the left side of her hip. She probably had at some point in her life too. One of the customers in the booth suddenly started choking on his ramen out of shock while another slowly tried to retreat from the booth after sliding some money on the table, still eating from his bowl. He was very keen on keeping the porcelain dish’s contents hidden from the large orange figure standing by the curtain as he exited.

The red-head suddenly started laughing and continued cutting up noodles from the dough. “Ahaha! Oho, boy you ain’t from around here are ya!” Confused, Pierce reeled up a little, peeking his head back into the steam cloud of tears. “Ah!” He leaned back down into the clearing, frustrated and rubbing his reddening eyes, but also a bit perplexed at the statement and its implications. “Ah geez! H-how would you know something like that…” At first he was being a little sarcastic, but soon realized that with the houses he saw earlier, there probably were other fishmen living here. He heard her booming laugh again as he wiped the watering clouds from his eyes. “Haha, we don’t get many of you fishies asking about that sorta thing. Don’t see much of your type on these groves at all to be fair. Why you askin’ by the way? You buyin’? Sellin’?”

Pierce pinched the bridge of his nose, scratching at the itching sensation starting to bud in the corners of his eyes and resisting the stinging that was clearing his sinuses. “Well, neither. Just strapped for cash at the moment and it-” She interrupted him, speeding up her cutting technique as she began to near the end of the folded sheet. “Oh you looking to make some money? Yeah Klarion’s pretty good for fillin’ your wallet here. Even though they all live around here, they still right bastards to catch. Haha!”

Finishing up her cutting, she scooped the noodles up with the flat of her knife and tossed that stringy yellow pile behind her without looking. Pierce could only watch as the clump of sliced egg dough sailed through the air into the pot of broth that the head chef’s son scooted over to catch them. They landed with a splash that seemed silent in comparison to the sizzling of the bubbling stock. He smiled at the pot, applauding the trick with a mild sense of glee. “Heheh, neat.” The woman stepped away from the counter and began taking off her apron, revealing a green striped blouse with rolled up sleeves tucked into a pair of jeans hugging her meaty legs.

“Mom, need you to cover for me! Kakuni, help your Grandma, do as she says.” As the woman walked over to the side to exit the booth’s kitchen ever, the grandma quickly waddled over to the front counter. She dragged the stool along with her to stand on, replacing her daughter much faster than she looked to be able to. Likewise, the boy moved over to the grandmas old table and continued the work she had started, though he continued to keep an eye on his old station, making sure the cooking ramen didn’t spoil. Pierce didn’t get much more of an opportunity to continue watching the family kitchen procedure, however. The woman who was leading the ramen booth had strode out and up to him, her stance wide and her hands resting proudly on her hips. “Well then, if you’re lookin’ for a quick buck I think we can arrange something.”

[Flame]

Once again she turned her head towards the left then towards the right. Standing there in the open area before the guild house Syph had absolutely no idea where Pierce might be. Without any choice but to guess she turned right, it was the direction that she had come from. So at the least she figured he was more likely to be coming from this side. It made sense, this path was the one she had figured was closer from where their ship had been parked. Pausing in her step to yawn she found herself slowly getting used to the troublesome weather of this island. Already it was not quite so hot nor humid as she had first thought it to be. Truly it was a welcome change that she was adapting to the climate so quickly.

This time rather than jumping back up Syphalia instead decided to take the stairway up. Pushing her way into the crowd of people as they funneled themselves onto it she found herself simply pulled along. The pressing bodies forced her onward and immediately Syphalia began to regret her decision. The stairs were obviously too small for the amount of people who used them at any given time. Fairly sure in the knowledge that she would be crushed under a stampede of people if she did not keep moving Syph hurriedly walked along. The hot sweaty bodies of others pressed in along side her as well as behind her. It was not a particularly long climb, but it was definitely not a comfortable one. Jumping up would definitely have been a better option. The thought ran through her mind as finally she stepped up onto the grove level. As she did the crowd began to thin slightly as people started to walk off in different directions. Breaking free of it she wondered how exactly she might find Pierce at this point.

He was supposed to meet her at the guild house, but he had not come. At least not yet, pinching the bridge of her nose she wondered whether going after him or staying here was a better option. If she stayed here she would almost definitely find him eventually. But then what was eventually, she really did not have the patience to sit here all day. Which meant looking for him. But then where exactly could that fish go, thinking back she tried to gather what knowledge she had of Pierce. It was kind of sad how little she actually knew of the fishman given that they had once been upon the same crew. Not only that but they had been some of the founding members of said crew. Mmmm ... he was the cook. Hes got those poison needles and he likes ... what does he like? Puzzled and without a clue of how to track him down she decided to act on her knowledge that he was a cook. In her mind it meant he was probably a food enthusiast of some sort. Seemed reasonable enough, why cook if one did not like food.

That being the case then she simply needed to ... check every restaurant between where she stood now and the ship. Her hand immediately came to her head as she recognized the futility and the scale of what she was trying to do. Why could Pierce have not just come straight to the guild house, save her the trouble of tracking him down. What she needed was an Eternal Pose that pointed directly at her these comrades of her. Yeah, that would be perfect, take away the whole problem of losing them in the first place. Giggling slightly she forced a smile of her own. Improving her mind she decided there was nothing more than to be off and begin this hunt. How hard could it be, a fishman on dry land was unlikely a common thing to be seen around here. That at least she was pretty sure of.

Keeping her eyes peeled for restaurants, stalls, or any food sort of business that could be hiding her fish friend Syphalia retraced her steps. Often when she entered she would do two things. The first and obvious one was to stare about at the different customers of the shop. Once or twice she even confused a rather large human for Pierce due to a similar style of clothing but in the end she was fairly unsuccessful with the first few eateries which she visited. The other thing she would do is ask the owner whether they had spotted a fishman walking around the premises, or if one had been around earlier. The answer at all these places was a resounding no. Sometimes this answer was given patiently, other times in an annoyed voice for bringing up fishman or simply annoyed that she would not be actually buying food. Passing by grove nine again she turned her path back towards the ship heading into that rear section of groves in which she had docked the ship.

As she walked she came into what she could only guess was a restaurant-ish district. A few stalls and larger shops appeared on either side of her. Seeming a likely place to find Pierce she looked among the five or so restaurants she aimed herself first at a seafood restaurant she noted on her right. Pierce was a fishman, so he probably ate fish right? That was the most abundant source of food where he came from so it seemed most likely to her. Pushing open the doors to the shop she was greeted by a middle-aged man behind what seemed to be a bar. He was handling raw fish as his customers ate up something small that was placed on the plates before them. Pierce was at least not here, "Excuse me sir, have you perhaps seen a fishman here?" The man paused in his work before smiling at her and stating "If that's the information you want, your going to have to buy some food." He stared at her for a moment as she tried to assess whether he was serious or not.

Returning his stare as she decided he finally broke into laughter. "Joking, joking. A fishman you say? Lets see ..."

[White Mimic]

The ramen cook led Pierce around back, walking briskly into the alleyway between the shops. Apparently, the booth was built into the side of a house, though by the looks of it, it felt more like the house was built into the back of the booth. The alley turned off slightly, revealing a quaint little yard leading up to a door along the side, sitting at the head of a quaint little wooden deck. Just beside the door were a few patio chairs, one of which was already laid claim to by the strong, plump frame of the ramen chef. “Ahh that hits the spot… you wanna seat boy?”

Pierce took one look at the seat and that was all anyone could need to have their answer. “I’m gunna have to knock back on that.” The chair was certainly sturdy enough to hold him but it seemed a tad uncomfortable. The effort in cramming himself into the railed deck alone was enough of a turn off, but that the payout would be a scrunched up seat with no leg room had to be the icing on the cake. The woman shrugged it off before reclining in her seat, nuzzling the back of her head into the arms she had crossed behind her. “Suit yerself.”

Soon after settling, she reached down behind the chair and pulled up a half finished water bottle, taking a hearty swig and nearly finishing it off in the process. As she set the bottle down, she wiped off most of the water dribbling out of the side of her mouth with her rolled up sleeve before returning her attention to her guest. “Now, first things first, I’m Nori and I run this here ramen shop.” She reached behind her and rapped on the wall of her house, smiling with a strong sense of pride as Pierce approached and leaned on the opposite side of the rail with crossed arms. “You already met my pride and joy Kakuni out there and my ma. You can call her Granny Menma if’n ya like.” Pierce smiled and nodded, offering his own name in return. “G’day Nori. Pleasure to meet you, and I’m Pierce.” He stretched a hand over the rail, nearly reaching the reclining Nori in her chair. She stared at the webbing between his fingers for a bit confused at first before realizing he was intending to shake her hand.

She clutched her belly and let out a bellowing laugh, rolling in her seat for several moments before continuing. “OHOHOHOHO, oh man you are a riot! Ha ha! Boy I ain’t gon’ touch you~ Would have to sterilize my hands and everything when I get back to workin’.” The fishman’s hand sunk for a second as he became a bit disheartened. “But-”

“Nah, nah, this is just a little business proposal.” She shifted around in her seat, settling in for the long haul of her relaxing break as Pierce got the feeling he was about to have a ton of leg work thrown his way. “You need money, right? Well as it turns out, Klarion fish is a right luxury around these parts and I’m sure anyone would pay a pretty penny for the meat off of one of ‘em bastards.” As she talked, Nori had lightly closed her eyes and almost looked like she was dozing off though the tone of her voice suggested otherwise. As such, her guest was left hanging and as she continued, he simply retracted his hand back to the banister, still frowning that she didn’t want to touch him. To be frank, he was kind of hoping that she’d be at least a little more tolerant given that she was even speaking with him on somewhat equal footing. “Right, that’s why I asked.”

At his remark, Nori kicked one leg up over the other and allowed her knees to fit together. A smug look crept over her face as she thought about the idea she already had in mind. “Yes, but did you know most of the Klarion on the market right now are of the younger persuasion?” Pierce thought about it for a moment, keeping quiet as his fingers drummed on the railing. He had only seen so many Klarion Fish in his career and they all seemed pretty much the same. They seemed to be one of the only fish where the apparent age wasn’t an important factor when it came to texture and taste, which always struck him as bizarre. To this day, he figured it was because they were naturally ideal for cooking on account that studying them was a likely waste of his time. He hadn’t expected to work with such decadent meat again. “What are you getting at?”

Nori opened one eye, giving the fishman a coy look before closing it and gently bobbing her head to one side. “Now I dunno about you but I seem to recall that as fish get older, they also tend to get bigger.” Pierce was silent for a second before he leaned in over the rail, his eyes wide and excited. “Hold on. They get bigger than that?” The ramen cook threw her arms in the air as if it were anyone’s guess, but the smirk she was wearing like a fur coat was quite clear in her meaning. “Oh they can get up to as big as twenty one feet, last I checked. Maybe even bigger. Those fuckers can put up a fight though, I’ll tell you what. Too much for my more local suppliers, certainly.”

It wasn’t hard to pick up on what Nori was trying to get at at this point. She was being about as subtle as a cherry in a salt pile. Of course it also helped to think from the perspective of a chefs, and most chefs loved nothing more than working with the finest quality ingredients. “You want me to bring back a big one? I’m guessing you also want first picks of the cuts, don’t ya.” She gave him a finger bang accompanied by the clicking of her tongue on her teeth. “I’ll even pay ya extra for dibs.” Pierce had a feeling she was only gunna take as much of the best parts as she could afford. Her business front didn’t testify well to her buying power but at the same time, it wouldn’t make a difference. If most of the cooks up here were like this Nori, he was certain he could sell an entire fish off bit by bit if he really wanted to. He could even keep some of the better bits to himself and pretend he had sold them already, but that sort of greedy behavior was more characteristic of a pirate, wasn’t it.

Pierce clapped his webbed hands together and started rubbing them, licking the front of his pointed pearly whites. He may have been recovering from a few skin burns, but nothing would keep the fishman from a workout he could directly and immediately benefit from in two major ways: money and material. “Alright, I’m in. You know where would be the best spot for a big reel might be or did you have something special in mind?”

[Flame]

The black-haired girl stood there watching the chef for a few moments. The chef still deep in thought had his arms crossed before his chest. One arm however was pivoted upwards allowing its connected hand free reign to tap its index finger upon the man's chin. The tapping was not particularly loud but it was regular in the sense that it gave away simply that he was in fact thinking, pondering the question that she had laid upon him not moments ago. "Huhhhh, fishman eh ..." the chef mused to himself, probably not expecting the words to be echoed by his mouth he did not even notice. She waited there patiently for a minute and then the half of the next just to be sure. The man seemed to be having no luck remembering one. Something that made her assume he had not seen one in recent memory. Raising her voice she spoke "It's okay if you haven't seen any, not a problem at all."

"Huh, oh yes, sorry I could not be of more help miss." Responded the chef as he turned back to look down upon the food he had been working on. A large slab of meat lay before him, taking a second to regather himself the chef set to work. With knife in hand she witnessed the man's own skill. It took him only a matter of seconds to dress the fillet before him. Chopping it into many slices each and every one of them seeming to be of equal size and dimension. It was in itself a beauty of swordsmanship, even if the sword was no where the equal of the ones she carried. Taking only the moment to watch and be awed at the spectacle she deciding there was nothing else for her here began to swivel upon her foot. She needed no longer to be within this building, her search for Pierce still had to continue. It was then as she swiveled that something caught her eye.

Behind the chef on a blackboard were written the prices for the foods he served. With her sole glance upon it her brown eyes had noticed a single object of interest. One of the things he served and only just the one seemed far more expensive than anything else on the menu. Turning back to the menu she took a more careful look immediately recognizing the fish named upon that board. It was the same fish she had heard about earlier, the same fish that she had eaten fried upon a stick. Then a light popped in her head, perhaps just perhaps, if this chef got his fish from a fisherman. She could track such a man down and aid him in his own fishing exploits. Hopefully given the apparent market price for this Klarian Fish, if she caught enough she would be able to pay for the coating of their ship. Do I really stop looking for Pierce just for this ... the thought popped into her head making her feel slightly guilty for the moment.

Well it can't hurt to ask. The voice in her head made a good point, she was not necessarily going to do anything with the information. It was just curiosity, nothing more, she had no obligation to actually do it. Yes, sure that made sense to her, nodding momentarily to herself she then looked to the chef who had turned his head up wondering why Syph was still standing in his restaurant if she was not going to eat. "I'm sorry ... is there anything else that you need?" His question as posed at just the right time and Syphalia managed to smile at him. "You must have a knack for reading people, actually I do have a question." She complimented the man, not because he was deserving of it, he likely wasn't. But she complimented him because she was gathering information from him at no cost nor benefit to him. Save that he got talk to her, something she considered a bit of a privilege but it probably meant little to nothing to him.

"Anything to help, feel free to ask away." The sushi chef said nicely to her pulling himself away from his everyday work of cutting up the fish. "I was wondering exactly where you get your Klarian Fish. If there's a fisherman perhaps you could direct me to him. I'm a bit strapped for cash and I heard fishing for Klarian is a good way to make a bit of fast beri." In the end it did not turn out to be an actual question but phrased as one he understood perfectly what her purpose was. What the question she had wanted to pose to him was.

"Catch Klarian Fish huh, you are right that its a lucrative market, but ..." He paused thinking before glancing at Syphalia once again. "Never mind, I'm sure you'll do fine. Well luckily for you, Klarian Fish is the one type I don't get from a fish monger. Instead I work with this fisherman in grove fourteen. Yes nice fella, I believe he uses flutter-kick coatings to do his own fishing ..." The chef distracted by his own thoughts began to stare off into the distance.

"Uhh, mister?" Syphalia said quietly, the chef a little startled came back out of his daze. Then pausing for a moment to collect himself gave Syphalia the directions she needed to go out and find him. He did not explain what flutter-kick coatings were but that did not seem quite so important to her at the time. But Syphalia deciding she had nothing better to do as searching for Pierce seemed a futile task figured she might as well check out this fishing for Klarian. Perhaps she would even be able to do it, how she did not know, but if humans gathered these fish, there must be a way.

SPOILER: Click to show

Perhaps we both go to the same spot for fishing?