Arriving at Ohara! The Next Crewmember?

[Cryo Through the Looking Glass]

Following the courses had proven very difficult for the two members of the crew, and they were, again hopelessly lost. As they saw land for the first time, the vessel creaked and groaned as if it was happy to finally see someplace with people who knew how to use a boat. Zen anchored at shore, his salty and brackish hands numb with cold. Zen jumped off the boat, not cautious at all. The place was pretty deserted, and there were a few ruins here and there. Although it looked empty, there was a small crowd gathered around a spot slightly to the left of their ship. As Zen walked closer, the discussion could be heard more clearly. Zen stood next to a tall woman. 'Yo. What's going on here?' (Traveller) he whispered. Then a shout was heard, and Zen was yelled at to get out of the way. From behind him came a group of nasty looking thugs.
'The treasure's ours, hear me.'  the front thug said with a nasty grimace.
'Whoa whoa whoa. Slow down a little, friend. What treasure? And who's that guy?'  Zen said with a shrug, pointing at a man in the middle of the group. He seemed to be describing some sort of map to the watchers. The thugs advanced menacingly before Zen could react. 'Eden!'

[grim]

Laid strewn across the crow's nest section of the ship, from his earlier session of sun bathing. Ragged draws of breath vibrated against his nose as he inhaled. It sounded as if someone was tampering with metal, this boy had a mighty snore. A bubble of liquid raised and lowered with every draw of his breath. Jerking awake as he heard his name called, the bubbling popping as he sprung to his senses. His sight locked onto something happening below him, Zen had seemed to be in trouble. Pressing his arm against the pole behind him and pushing himself off, landing onto the deck of the ship with the thud. Rushing for the hull as he gripped it and tossed himself over, landing before Zen and the thugs. Giving the men a menacing look before raising his left arm. Closing his fist as a cracking noise radiated from it loudly, lowering himself instead a stance, ready for combat.

"None of my Nakama fight alone" Tilting his head backwards slightly to give a small grin towards Zen. He scanned the area once more, spotting how many of the enemies had been in the area, but also seeing something that amazed him. There was a huge girl over standing to the size. Woah, I gotta ask her to be in my crew for sure after i beat this guys up

[Traveller]

Alexandra had arrived at the island a little over three hours ago by the means of being dropped off by a passing trade ship, they were happy to make the little detour since she had acted as added security to their merchandise. And after she had organised lodgings, and stopped by a food kiosk to grab a snack, the swords-woman had taken to wandering around the streets for a while. She had just passed a crowd of people listening to the mad rantings of some loony, intent on finding a library or something, when she heard what the man was saying.

"This map here depicts the location of an ancient treasure, long hidden and thought lost! To ensure it's safety, the creators of this map encrypted the directions in a language now lost to us-"

And promptly performed a perfect about-face and joined the growing crowd. The redhead was easily able to see the map, thanks to being a good head and shoulders taller than everyone else. She scanned the map, dedicating all the details it to memory, only half-listening to the explorer embellishing the story behind the map. It seems he was trying to recruit people to join him in his endeavor to crack the code of the map and find the treasure, whatever it was.

"Yo. What's going here?" a voice said suddenly, jolting her out of her musings. She looked down, way, way down, and found a young boy with blond-streaked brown hair and dark eyes watching the man.

"He's talking about an ancient map that leads to a long lost treasure, and he's trying to recruit people to join him on his quest to find it" she stated simply, eyes returning to the map. The tall woman really, really wanted to study it. Was it an intricate language with a variety of hidden nuances and a delicate reverse syntax system? Or was it a simpler, straight forward language? Before her mind could delve deeper into the realm of possibilities, a rough voice dragged her back to the outside world.

'One would think the world has something against deep thinkers' she mused irritably as she turned to see a group of thug-looking men stomping their way towards the crowd and, presumably, the map-bearer. And then the little guy spoke, bringing the thugs attention to him, Alexandra had to wonder if he had a few screws loose, but before the thugs could reach the short boy, another short boy just dropped in front of them from absolutely nowhere. Surprising her and everyone else, and to add a bit of flourish he made a proud proclamation about his nakama not fighting alone. Very dramatic, and would have been impressive if he didn't stop to stare at her.


She raised a brow at him in response. Yes, she was taller than the average person, but most people had the decency to only stare for a few seconds, this guy was pushing half-a-minute. Either he had little social grace or simply didn't care for them, she had met plenty of both.


"Take a picture, it'll last longer" she shot at him bluntly, giving him a flat look.


"We'll be taking more than that!" one of the thugs yelled, apparently tired of being ignored and rushed at the short boy that had been staring at her. Taking one step forward, and passing the boys completely, she ducked under the slow swing of his club and gripped the handle of her sword.

"Half-Draw: Strike-Dawn!" she growled and rammed her hilt into the poor buggers rib-cage. Knocking him off his feet and onto his back, and seriously winded by the sound of his wheezing. That seemed to cause a chain reaction, though, because rest of his buddies charged angrily.

"Whoops" she muttered to herself sheepishly, "Seems I've gone and got myself involved in this mess." Alexandra shrugged her shield from off her shoulder and held it at the ready as the men ran at her. Why did stuff like this happen to her?  

[Cryo Through the Looking Glass]

Engaged in combat again? Travelling with Eden was proving to be a struggle for his physical abilities and a strain on his stamina. The tall woman watched the two friend's movements. Her emotions weren't very hidden, and it was clear she was expressing disdain at the fight. Not one of those goody goody people... he groaned in his head. Then she did something that totally shocked Zen. He was usually a good judge of character, but this unusually tall woman was warping his mind. As she took out a sword, Zen realised a club from behind was headed his way. Then she used her limber, lithe arms to half draw the sword out of the scabbard and deflect the sword, creating a sharp grating noise. Zen's gauntlet was half hybrid already as he dived into the pack, Eden fighting beside him. The claws, with a mind of their own, tore into one man's flesh startlingly easily. It purred with delight as Zen was tugged alongside it. The crackle of swords was all around them as the map bearer ran for safety, seeming to have no experience with combat as he ducked behind the three compatriots. Zen's observant eyes picked this and more up in a second as the thugs came for another wave of attacks, their greedy eyes seemingly peeking through Zen's wallet. It looked like the chances of Zen getting out without serious injury wasn't great, and as he drew a vial from his robes, he quickly realised that more thugs were coming at them. 
These guys have got to be working for someone...  he analysed. Someone with the money to hire a whole bunch of mercenaries... Then it was back into the flow of battle, and smashing the vial on the ground, a dangerous move considering Eden and the girl wouldn't be ready for it. Of course, he could tell them, but then the mercs would be ready for it as well. As glass shards flew everywhere, a thick billowing fog grew and grew, causing all those around them to cough and splutter. He released his glove, as if declaring a challenge. Quickly it morphed into a full sized Sabertooth. This guy is a night hunter. He can probably see better than me in this fog. Zen fell back, letting the so called tiger do the work. Then from behind, he was struck by a club. His head was dizzy, and he wasn't ready for it. He fell to the ground in a crumpled heap.

[grim]

A smile that had written his face by the words of the tall woman had quickly vanished as a man began to charge forth, Eden with a serious grimace towards the man waited for the distance to close before...

In no time, the large woman had appeared in front of him. She sent a hilt towards the mans torso with revolting speed and precision, enough to easily impress Eden. A usual wild smile had consumed his face as he wasted no time getting into the mix of things. With unorthodox rhythm he gripped the shoulders of the woman, catapulting himself into the air with springing snap. Soaring through the air he'd move both of his arms backwards into a cocked position, his legs angled like rudders to guide his transit airborne antics. Floating downward from his aerial disposition, both arms had quickly been consumed by what others would see as pure bark from a tree. The arms that know made a visage of his old ones were easily double there length and size. With his sight on two men attempting to join the fray he shouted out "Double...Barrel" Sending a monstrous fist towards both of them men. Both pounded towards the ground with a cracking, rubble shooting up from there now unconscious bodies. Planting his feet firmly onto the earth as he turned on his heels that dig so desperately into the firm soil of earth, another fist straight to the stomach of another contender had liquid spewing from his mouth and he'd been sent backwards. Hearing the shatter of glass caught his attention as a foggy substance had consumed the area. Eden held his mouth as he coughed lightly, looking over to see that Zen had been attack in the back. Eden attempting to move forth but the fog had quickly made the area to hard to navigate through. "Damn It!" he cursed outwards from his wooden arms. Not only had his eyes slightly adjusted to the smokey area, but the eyes of the enemy as well. He was able to see a small distance in front of him and could see that those men had no intention of letting him pass to help his friend. Picking his fist up before his face. This would be a true adventure, and he was the perfect person for it. With his wooden arms cocked back Eden rushed at the men knowing that he couldn't waste all of his attention on them.

[Traveller]

The moment Alexandra felt hands on her shoulder, she tensed and looked behind her, prepared to counter anyone who tried to attack her from behind, only to see the dark skinned boy use her to leap into the air and dish out some mean punches. She stated blankly at the short boy for a moment, before she narrowed her eyes as a confused expression filtered over face.

"How did he reach my shoulder...?" she wondered out loud, before rising her shield to defend herself from a downward ax-swing. She glanced over the shield to stare at the buff guy glaring at her. "Oh, yeah, still have to deal with you guys" she commented, having forgotten she was in a fight to begin with. With a heave, she pushed the ax away and forced the man to open his entire front to a Strike-Dawn attack, then she turned to enter the fray properly. Making sure not to strike the young boys in the chaos.

The sound of glass breaking had her glancing to the dark eyed boy, and immediately leaped away from the white cloud filling the area. Staying just outside the cloud-like mist, several of the thugs stumbled out, and she dealt with them with quick jabs to either their heads of ribs, winding them or knocking them unconscious. It was actually kind of boring, but she found herself giggling a little because, it was kind of funny in a weird way. 

'O~kay, I think there might be something in that mist' Alexandra thought, shaking her head at her own behavior. 

"Damn it!" one of the boys yelled in frustration, making her turn towards the mist ball, which was beginning to dissipate. Well, that didn't sound like the boy, he seemed positively thrilled with the prospect of a fight. And it didn't sound like he was losing... she tilted her head, her beads and cuffs clinking together, and listened carefully. Actually, she could only hear one fight, and... growling? Okay, that was strange, but where was the other boy, the one with the blond streaks?

"Crap." she stated before diving into the cloud herself, only to crash into a big brawny guy with a club. The two rolled a small distance, and where Alexandra rolled onto her feet, sword and shield at the ready, the man settled on his hands and knees, shaking his head from the sudden and disorientating impact. The lavender-eyed woman took the time to scan the area, and in the fading mist could see the dark-eyed boy lying on the ground. Ah, well, at least she knew where he was. Here's hoping he wasn't dead. 

"You know, it's awfully rude to attack an unarmed opponent from behind like that" she reproached lightly as the man stood, readying his club.

"And little girls should mind their own business!" he hissed back, and the pair began to circle each other. The sounds of battle were dying out, and Alexandra made sure to stop when she was in front of the unconscious boy.

She shrugged at the mans words, "First off, I'm a grown woman, second off, I'm taller than you" she sent him a cheeky grin at that, "and three of all, a map with a foreign language is very much my business, being a linguist and all" and with that, rushed the shorter man and engaged him in a fast-paced fight that, in a honesty, did not last long. He was strong, possibly as strong as her, but she was faster, had a longer reach, and a better defense. It only took a few well-placed strikes to unbalance him, and once that was done, a jarring bludgeoning over the head sent the man in the realms on darkness. Not dead, just unconscious.

Quickly looking around to make sure there were no more thugs, and to Alexandra's surprise there wasn't, the young woman turned to the unconscious boy and knelt next to him. Checking his pulse and breathing, she was relieved to find he was neither dead nor dying, though he'll probably wake up with a nasty headache and a possible concussion.

Standing, she looked over the silent or groaning bodies littering the street and found only the dark skinned boy and a... big cat? Yeah, the boy and some kind of large feline were the last ones standing. 

"You're friend is fine, just out cold" she sheathed her sword and gave the black-haired boy a contemplative look, "Not bad fighting, for a kid anyway" she spoke after a moment.


Once she was certain none of the thugs would be getting up again, she turned and threw her shield over her shoulder, "Well, it was fun." she commented lightly, not really sure whether she should leave in search for that library or stay to make sure the kid on the ground would be alright. Plus there was the guy with that map, her mind wandering to what language that map could possibly be written in. Or if it was just a code, not an actual language. Oh, how her mind wanted to know.

[Cryo Through the Looking Glass]

Zen woke up with a start. His Sabertooth was licking the back of his head of blood. 'Ugh... I suppose they say saliva seals wounds?' Zen wasn't the one to be startled easily, often having a retort to most insults. There was a crumpled heap of bodies just outside the dissipating cloud of gas. Someone took advantage of that... he thought. He grabbed his hand into a fist, and along the feline came obediently, springing onto his hand and morphing into a gauntlet. Then the woman who had helped Eden and Zen fight sprang off, saying it had been fun. Zen yelled to wait. 'Don't you want to study that map? We can help! The way you were staring at it, you must be some kind of history buff, or a greedy person in it for the treasure. Judging by the way you helped us, I'm guessing it's the former.' Zen babbled incessantly. He had a tendency to after taking a knock to the head. Zen got up, rubbing his head tenderly. His legs felt like lead as he walked over to the still cowering man. 'So whadda ya say? How about we get the treasure before the mercs do?'  Zen looked at Eden, hoping he would agree. Then he looked at the woman, who was walking off. As he thought about this, he reckoned it would be hard to track down the treasure. I mean, after the Buster Call, the environment had probably severely changed. The landscape had levelled, and the once great library of Ohara lay in ruins. Tougher than we expected. Well, what's life without a challenge.

[grim]

Making rather quick work of the thugs that stood before, lashing out with brutal wooden strikes and a bone breaking assortment of slams. A very "Physical" Eden, only cause he'd worried about his friend. Shaking his head about caustically as he looked for his friend. The thick smoke had hindered his sight causing a small panic in the boy. Beganing to breath in an increased rhythmic jolt as the though of a friend in trouble worried him. Soon, the foggy gas clearing as he'd began to calm himself at the sight of Zen not being dead. Walking over to his crew-mate and the huge woman. With Zen's words, he stopped and looked over to him in a paused manner. "I'm always up for an adventure!" pure excitement ringing from his breath, a should-be familiar smile crept onto his face in an instant. His attention shifted, looking towards the large woman with a semi-serious, semi-happy expression. "Hey big lady you're pretty cool, wanna join my crew?" Forming hand gestures as he talked. Looking over to the other man in the area, Eden had a plan. Thrusting his hand forth at the woman before she would speak. Wait, wait, if we can help you find on this adventure than you should join our crew!" He said gesturing in a manner as if this was any other regular agreement. Looking back and forth from the large woman and her friend with a small smirk on his face. His hands now pointed upwards in the ~right, right?~ gesture, hoping that they'd agree with him. He didn't really care if her friend joined the crew, but she was to amazing of a spectacle to not become a Nakama.

[Traveller]

Any thought of finding the library vanished when the boy, now conscious, spoke of the map. She stopped dead and looked over her shoulder at him, her eyes shining in interest. Hey, she couldn't help it, anything language and history related just made it impossible for her not to be interested. She turned to them fully and, glancing at the map-bearer who was watching them a little off to the side, hummed a little as she thought about what the boy said. He was very astute to figure out she enjoyed history, pretty smart for a kid.

Before she could say anything though, the ball of sunshine that was his friend practically bounced towards her and, with the brightest smile she has ever seen, asked for her to join his crew. Crew? Was he a sailor, or a pirate? No way, this little thing, a villain of the sea? However, he spoke again before she could properly process what he had said, and seemingly offered up a deal. She glanced at the map-bearer, who looked equally at a loss of what to do as she was. Still, while she had no idea what to do about him, there was one thing she definitely wanted to do. 

Bending down, and yes, she had to bend to reach him, Alexandra picked the dark skinned boy up and held her out in front of him. "You're a pirate? How is someone as small as you a pirate? You can't be older than twelve," she stated bluntly, turning him this way and that to look at him properly. Besides his powers and obvious skill in fighting, there was nothing that hinted at him being old enough to be out in the ocean on his own. A grin began to stretch over her lips, "And you're friend is even tinier, what are you called? The short-stack pirates? Wouldn't I ruin that image? Or would we be the Short-Stack Pirates and That One Tall Chick?" she chortled a little to herself, before putting him back down on his feet and crossing her arms.

"But all joking aside" the redhead turned to the map bearer, "Whether or not we do go on this littler venture is entirely up to the one holding the map. So, mister, were you just show-casing that piece of paper or do you actually intend to go after it?"

The man, an average sized man with olive skin, black hair and green eyes, started a little at suddenly being addressed. He cleared his throat before speaking.

"Ah yes, I was hoping to find some people to help me find the location of the treasure. A-Are you really a historian, like the boy says?" he asked, looking at Alexandra hopefully. She rolled her eyes heavenward, but reminded herself that not everyone was as smart as she was.

"Not really, no" the mans shoulders slumped at her words, "I'm primarily a linguist and translator, though I dabble in a few other fields" she added with a cheeky grin. Before the man could say anything, she added quickly, "And yes, I'll help you on this mad venture. But first we're going to need detailed maps of Ohara before the Buster Call, I'm not arrogant enough to believe I can translate and navigate a map where the very terrain has been altered. I imagine you two are in as well, if you're crazy deal is anything to go by." Alexandra turned to the smaller boys.


"Oh, and for your deal. No dice" she raised a brow at the apparent captain, "If I like you guys enough by the end of this escapade, and think you're worth a pirates life, then sure. But I'm not staking my life and livelihood on the possibility of being compatible with you two. But hey, at least you have a plenty of time to convince me, neh?" She grinned and held out her hand for the dark-skinned boy to shake, "Alexandra Tarrant, I look forward to working with you."

[Cryo Through the Looking Glass]

The tall woman conversed with Eden in a friendly way, almost bantering with him. As she told the map bearer her occupation, Zen butted in impatiently. 'If we stand here all day, the merc's employer will get to the treasure first. And I seriously do not want that.'  Zen fidgeted awkwardly before resuming a more confident pose. He walked over and snatched the map out of the map bearer's hand. It was written in some kind of ancient dialect. 'Well this is your chance to shine, miss linguist. I've done some dabbling in the sciences so it would be possible for me to try and help if needed. As Alex hunkered down over the map hungrily, Zen walked over to where Eden stood and whispered; 'Do you think we can trust her? She does seem friendly but what do you think?' Zen was a bit nervous. After getting dispatched so easily by the thugs, he wasn't sure he could take another fight. He wasn't super tough like Eden with his wood powers. And already from what he knew, Alexandra was a skilled swordswoman. To be able to help, he'd have to put his brain to good use. His mind firmly set on his goal, and a determined look plastered onto his face, Zen saw the better side of the day, and the sun seemed to shine brighter. He hoped the treasure was some kind of devil fruit. He'd be able to study it, and attempt another weapon transfusion. And on the plus side, Alex would join their crew. The deal sounded pretty good.

[grim]

Laughed as the woman made fun of there obviously paltry size, Eden himself not really noting this until she spoke. "No! That's not our name." He voiced while snickering profusely. Abruptly halting his laughter as he curl his index finger under his lip, his eyes shot upwards in a wondering fashion. "Although we don't really have a name yet, eh, it'll come as we go." He said flickering his hand up and down towards her in a nonchalant manner, a smile still brewing upon his face.

Fastened into his self thought, Eden felt a force grip lightly just under his arm. Tightening onto his rips before lifting him upwards as the woman who out-scaled him by quite a bit brought him upwards in a child like manner. The sensation trickling down his rip cage force him to buckle, gripping her hands as an seemingly uncontrollable laughter broke from his mouth. Kicking his legs with a hysterical expression locked on his face. "T-That tickles, Bwhahahahah!" He said slapping onto her arm in the fashion someone would do to a table in this situation of laughing, bowing his head downwards to complete the gesture. Being released from the woman's grip and now planted back onto his own two feet he swiped his hand across his face. Flinging a single tear into the distance as he let out a small yelp of air, as most people do after a good laugh.

As the small group began to converse, Eden moved over to the side. He lifted his left leg and wrap it just in front of the right. Allowing his weight to be placed upon a well sized tree that seemed a bit battered. Crossing his arms, almost wondering into thought but a sudden strange sensation overtook his body. The sensation wasn't of anything that he'd ever felt before, he could actually feel the life of the scarred tree behind him fleeting. The sensation left him baffled, he could feel the emotions and well being of tree's. A surprised look over took his face, quickly withdrawn by his signature wild smile. "Don't worry tree, I'm sure you lived a good life, and made many tree children. You'll always be in my memory, the first tree i ever talked to!" He said patting the tree with a single hand. The clanking of the two barks ringing quiet loudly in the area.

Zen approached from behind and began to whisper to Eden, questioning the red haired woman at had. Eden still turned to the tree, bowed his head slightly in thought. Lifting it and tilting his head to the side, eyeing zen from his peripheral. With unwavering eye contact he spoke " Back there when she picked me up, I've never been ticklish. A strange sensation came from her hands, It's like i could feel her "Goodness"." Eden said with a quiet serious visage. Removing his hand from the tree and wrapping it around Zen's shoulder as he walked over towards the large woman with him "Besides, the best part of an adventure is knowing that you don't know what going to happen". Waking a single hand into the air as he talked. Making it over towards the woman he looked up to her with a light grin.

"Ok, we're ready for adventure!

[Traveller]

The young boy, who was named Zen if she heard his companion right, snatched the map out of the man's hands and looked it over himself before speaking. Alexandra felt a flash of irritation go through her, not only from the boys callous way of treating such an old and important piece of history, but also because she couldn't tell if he was challenging her skills as a linguist.

"Thank you, for potentially damaging the map" she grumbled under her breath but accepted the sheet of paper nonetheless. She glanced at the map bearer, who reached into his satchel and pulled out other rolls of paper that were obviously other maps of the island. Her eyes lit up in appreciation, and the pair hunkered down in the shade of one of the trees of the street.

"I may not be a fighter, but I am an extensive explorer!" the man said proudly, if not a bit sheepishly. "Oh, the names Herber, Herber Mackivor" he said as he started studying the maps, letting Alexandra work on translating the foreign script. With a nod of acknowledgement, Alexandra pulled out a pen and a piece of paper, and set to work.

Singling out the most common reoccurring symbols and taking note of any unique lettering or additional markers. She set to work aligning them against the most common letters that occur in the English language and finding correlating symbols for each of them. It seemed fairly simple, for once the common letters were identified, even though some letters didn't exist in this script, finding the matching letters for the other letters and symbols were fairly easy. But simply translating it directly just made some garbled mess.


'Ooh... Hidden syntax!' She cheered excitedly, her eyes zooming back through the text and the notes she had made before. Already the paper was riddled with crossed out notes, theories and attempted translations, filled with random letters and comments. But she still had enough room for this. Isolating additional symbols that didn't seem to fit within the text, she recalled the corresponding words, and giggled almost madly as she started experimenting with possible adjustments.

As it turns out, any word with the inverted triangle symbol was to be rotated with two other words. Three-way rotation of certain words helped her make sense, but it was only after she reversed the meanings of the words connected to the bracket-and-ball symbol that everything started making sense. She read a random part of the text over again, and smiled.

Hidden in plain sight, no force of might may open the gate... She cracked it!

Looking up with a gleeful expression, she saw everyone was standing and watching her. Huh, when did that happen? Eh, doesn't matter, she figured it out!

"I know what it says, I know how to read it. The first place we need to go is... Pursuits of knowledge run deep, the desire doth ever creep- why is everything in rhyme? - digging into the darkest deep, to shine a light that makes all weep. For knowledge is truth, and truth is all we seek... well this sucks. Hang on, Herber, pass me those two maps" the explorer did so silently.

"Okay, so... the big lake is where the tree used to be, this was the forest... where was the town?" she asked, looking to Herber. The man pointed to what is now a hilly field, ah yes, they chose not to rebuild because of the carnage and destruction wrought from the Buster Call, and instead changed to a field in commemoration of the lives lost that day.

"Right-o then. Anyone have any idea's on how to riddle out this riddle?" she asked the group as a whole, giving everyone a cheeky grin. Yes, it was a terrible joke, but hilarious all the same.

[Cryo Through the Looking Glass]

Zen watched Eden's darting frame, going from place to place like a excited monkey. Then he went up to a tree and started talking to it. 'I'm pretty sure you can't talk to trees, even if you can turn into one,' He remarked dryly, then returned his gaze towards Alexandra and the man, who introduced himself as Herber promptly. Alex was engrossed in the map, her eyes eating it up like a half starved wolf. She muttered a few things about English syntax and inverted triangles. He spaced out. Ancient languages wasn't the young man's thing. He preferred to study things of the moment, and currently, they were stuck in the past.

Alex looked up, a cheeky grin on her face. Zen wondered what she was so happy about. Surely she couldn't have cracked it that fast! Then he was further shocked by the fact that she stood up and told them a riddle. 'You can't be serious. A riddle? What kind of hunt is this?' Zen quickly grabbed a bit of paper from where she was standing. Most of it was illegible scrawl, but clearly, she had converted the script into English. It was a poem, and it rhymed in English. Zen was definitely not a linguist, but even he could tell that it was off somehow. A riddle, in an ancient language, when converted into English, rhymed? When you put two and two together, the people who made the map must have spoken English, and then done the conversion into code.

He put his thoughts forward in a few simple sentences; It rhymes. Whoever made the map converted it into code, so it can't be that ancient. Now to the actual riddle... Zen thought with a grimace. Pursuits of knowledge run deep... The desire doth ever creep... Digging into the darkest deep, to shine a light that makes all weep... For knowledge is truth, and truth is all we seek... One thing Zen had to say was that it wasn't the best poem. Using deep twice to rhyme? Seriously? ((This is an OC point of view, not hating on you Traveller)) And it was deceptively simple. The last line really gave it away. What was Ohara known for before the Buster Call happened. The library. They seek knowledge. It was obvious once you had it. But then again, isn't everything?

Alright. The riddle means the library. And if that's the first place we've got to go. Zen set off confidently, then scratched his head. 'So where is the library?

[grim]

Eden, with the mention of a library quickly sprung into action, he gripped the shoulders of Herber. Eden lifted his own legs allowing Herber's back to be drawn down, using it in a slingshot manner. Launching himself into the air with quite a force. Soaring upwards towards a brutalized tree arm, each tree had been vividly assaulted by same duress everywhere on the island. Gripping onto the branch and pushing off of it. A girthy snap echoed lightly through the area as the black tree limb began plummet towards the ground. An "Uh-oh" escaped Eden's throat, after his vault he used a single hand to grip a much more sturdy branch further up. An explosion of bark and smug cascaded the area just behind Herber just barely missing him. Eden allowing a worried breath to escape his lungs as he pulled himself upon the branch and began on his way upwards.

Much like a wild primate, he traversed the woodland with little resistance. Able to scale the branches in only a manner of seconds before reaching an adequate viewpoint. One hand gripped upon the tree as his body leaned away from it, both feet planted onto the base firmly. Cupping his hand just above his eyebrows to block out the sun and enhance his vision. Scanning from left to right to find any structure that seemed "Bookish". Spotting a cluster of buildings with various emblem's over the top of them. Even pointing out one with a book motif above it. "Bingo!" Eden called out as he released his grip from the tree's.

Navigating the branches and trunks much like he did in his ascension, able to move his body in a manner befitting this due to his limited size. Landing between Alex and Zen with a grunt and small kicks of dust on his arrival. Lifting his arm towards the Eastern direction. "Libraries that way". Giving no warning of his next action, he darted towards it, taking the high ground of the tree's like he'd been accustom too at this point. A hearty laugh escaping him as he made his way speedily towards there. "Last one there is a dirty, rotten bastard!" He called backwards cupping his hand.

[Traveller]

Alexandra laughed at Zen's disbelief at it being a poem, and shook her head a little. "Actually, it's a lot more common than you think. Ancient civilizations didn't want random strangers coming in to steal their treasures, so they couldn't leave simple instructions, so they came up with riddles and the like to confuse the would-be thieves and lead them astray, or into a trap." She shrugged a little, "Though, granted, they rarely rhymed when translated" she admitted, letting the shorter boy take the notes and watched him solve it rather quickly, the kid had a good head it seemed. Which is more than she could say for Eren as she watched as poor Herber was turned into a catapult so the Devil Fruit user could fling himself into the treetops, and nearly crush the poor man with a dead branch.

"I thought a wood-user would be able to tell the difference between a living and a dead branch" she commented idly while Herber recovered from his near-heart-attack, and lightly took her notes back to put them away in her belt bag. Barely a moment later the dark skinned short stack was down and pointing in a random direction, before he was off like a metaphoric bullet. A friendly taunt following in his wake.

"How much you willing to bet it's a normal library and not the actual tree?" she asked with a knowing grin, before she took off at high speeds to follow the tiny fellow, who was moving surprisingly fast for someone so small, "Oi! Short stack, wait up! you got a head start!"

After a short time, she forwent the ground and took to the rooftops, managing the jumps and swings from various structures to cross over alleyways, gaps and ledges with ease. It took a while, but she was able to catch up to the boy before they reached their destination. She looked up at what used to be a mighty tree, but was now obviously dead. Oh, what it must have looked like in its prime. Alexandra wished she could have seen it when it was alive and strong.

"Wow, you actually went the right way" she commented idly, still staring at the giant structure. Pulling out her map, she looked it over and analysed it again. So, they had reached the library, what next? She heard footsteps and glanced over her shoulder quickly and saw Herber jogging after them. Whoops, completely forgot about the others when she chased after Eren. Eh, she'll apologise later. And with that thought, turned back to the map.

"For those who seek truth, here the thirst can sate, but for the uncouth beware the darkness beneath, for the shadows shall guide astray, and steal what was bequeathed at birth. And life will decay... well, that was cheery, wasn't it? She glanced at the others, before turning back to the map. Beneath... guide... decay... she narrowed her eyes, what was it? How can shadows guide you when your beneath... beneath what? The ground? Underground, it's dark, but then you would be buried wouldn't you? Well, that would certainly explain the decay part.

'Tunnels' the word came like a lightning strike. Tunnels, there was an underground tunnel system! But where was it? She looked at the first riddle, hoping to find another clue. Digging in darkness... could... could the roots be the tunnels? If we're running with the theme here, it could definitely work. This great tree was a library once upon a time, and with library comes knowledge and truth, and the roots would be huge and could possibly run all through the island. Is... could it really be that.

"Well, turns out this isn't as simple as we thought it would be" she spoke at last, looking up from the map, "I think it's talking about tunnels, and the roots are the tunnels, or at least have something to do with them. But I have no idea how to find the entrance, anyone wanna take a crack?" she asked, sitting down so the shorter folk could look at the map as well. Eh, sometimes being taller than everyone could be a real inconvenience.