Wanderers in Sedna! Trouble Brewing in the North Blue!

[Flame]

Yan frowned, what kind of man huh. One of the people he had trained with once said a battle was a conversation, an argument perhaps. Yan scratched his head, he didn't remember the exact term that man had used before. What kind of man ... he turned his head down and walked back into his memories.

The battle had been fast hadn't it? Yan had started it with a valiant thrust as was his way. Pulling his grip forward on the haft of his spear he'd used the bladed head almost like a short sword with quick and fast slashes. Perhaps his solid footing had aided him in holding off but, it had been just that hadn't it? Maybe, Yan puzzled over the battle for moments more with little to take out from it. In the end he had been soundly defeated, the state he had been in after was simply enough to show that. Unconsciously he echoed the same sentiment for the third time "What kind of man ..." his voice fizzled out. Maybe he could find something in the Ronin's combat style, something that stood out to him.

"He is, dynamic?" His voice rose as if questioning his own statement. Was he though, Yan's head twisted and turned about itself as he tried to make sense of his fuzzying memories. Oi Oi, I'm way too young for this sort of senility. He complained in his head. Raising his head upwards once more he brought both of his hands about clapping his cheek on either side. Once, then twice he did so. "He was calculating and intelligent, I think. Perceptive at that. Not very pirate-like perhaps." Yan's eyes narrowed, not very pirate-like? No that wasn't true, there were many pirates that were like that. He had heard tale of them, seen one or two, the Ronin was perhaps sort of reminiscent of that.

"Let me should amend that, not very pirate-like for such a small time pirate." Yan said bluntly, those he had seen in the Grand Line had been much more like that. To be frank Yan was surprised by the amount of words coming from his mouth. He had barely talked with the Ronin, these were all guesses from his demeanor, the aura he portrayed, and his actions. Just guesses, though he treated then almost like facts.

Yan paused as he thought back to Bianca's second question. Had he phrased it in such a way? If he did, he did it subconsciously it seemed. The words ran through his head, though he could barely remember his word choice, maybe? Perhaps? Well it was a possibility that he did phrase it like that. "So I phrased it that way ..." he said offhandedly. Glancing aside before turning his attention back to Bianca.

"Yes I fought him myself." Yan said gritting his teeth behind his lips. "Peculiar? Perhaps, but with one challenger, there was no need for an all out brawl. Besides he was enough, he had said as much." Yan frowned, annoyed that he had to admit it at all. He was enough, the difference in strength had been noticeable. Yan with his many years of combat experience hadn't felt so outmatched in a while. Maybe it was age getting to him, he was thirty-two. That's still pretty young though he reminded himself with a half-baked smile.

[Jade]

Bianca once again sat silent, taking in everything that Yan had to say and watching him as he moved about. Whereas he moved nearly constantly, particularly his hands, the young woman sat nearly perfectly still - a testament to her character, perhaps. It seems strange to be so animated. Though I suppose I should not rule out the possibility that I am the strange one. Under the table, she rapped her fingers against the back of her other hand, and she made a point of nodding a few times throughout Yan's responses.

"Perhaps my own bias has swayed your thinking - there is, of course, the possibility that we are just dealing with a particularly powerful, strategic rookie." She frowned. "And he sounds confident, from that. Though perhaps deservedly so, hm?"

She took a moment to finish the second cup of tea, and began refilling her first cup, slowly pouring the tea from the teapot, before continuing. "I believe that those are nearly all of the questions I could ask about the Ronin. Yan, I thank you for taking time out of your undoubtedly busy life to sit down and provide me with this information." She set the teapot back down in the middle of the table, taking her eyes off of Yan to look at her cup. "I... Have an offer for you, sir. You have already made one attempt on the Ronin. I would like to hire your services as a bodyguard - you would be accompanying me as I made my own attempt on the man."

Bianca picked up her teacup, tapping it with her pointer finger for a moment before taking a sip. "Payment would come at the end of the job in the form of a free ride to the nearest island where we could turn the pirate in, as well as splitting the man's bounty - let's say a 65-35 split. We can negotiate the actual payment upon Moto Chitsu's capture."

"That is, of course," she gave Yan a small smile over her tea, "only if you're up for a round two."

[Flame]

Yan chuckled at the comment that he was a busy person. He really was not, or at the least he tried not to be one. It was tiring to be so, he preferred the laid back life. That he was being seen as one was perhaps a great insult to how he tried to live his life. Not that the comment particularly bothered him, he just liked to think that it should. The inner thoughts caused Yan to chuckle once more, for the most part towards himself.

Her offer was interesting, bodyguard work huh, he'd probably have done some anyways. Do I want to keep dealing with this girl ... Yan asked himself within his head. There were many things to consider, he wasn't particularly against the idea, she was just awfully intrusive at a time he sorta wished she wasn't. Raising a single hand he pulled it along his hair sliding it about his left ear. His legs beneath the chair fidgeted slightly as he thought to himself. If she was going to challenge him then, there was no reason not to right? He'd be given a first hand seat to his being proved right or wrong. Beneath the table he stretched both legs out extending them comfortably outwards.

His lanky fingers extended and he brought his head to a rest against his wide hand. Tilting it sideways he continued to think, the tips of his fingers pressing against different parts of his face as he continued his contemplation. As she continued to talk, straying into the topic of reward and money Yan's focus drifted off. Yes he needed the money, it was one thing to go to the Blues, but to go into the Grand Line was a much more expensive prospect. The amount of preparation required to get a survivable ship with the necessary stuff was excessive. A marine convoy might've taken him, but given his recent breakup with them he didn't really feel that he wanted to do such a thing. Not yet at the least.

He did however catch the last things she said. Tilting his head further into the bed of his palm, Yan smiled and watched the white haired girl for a moment. "I suppose it couldn't hurt." He said. "I can at least get you to the crew, and hold them off." Yan eyes fell on his spear, yeah even in this state he could probably wield it. How many could he hold off though? All twenty? Maybe, probably not. Though they had been fairly obedient when the captain had told them to stand off. But what now with two of them, or worse three. Yan's eyes strayed back to Thomas smoking as he was outside of the garden. "If you are everything you say you are. You may want to try challenging him to a duel."

Yan laughed, what he had had was sort of like that. One-on-one, mano-a-mano, it was almost like something out of a story. Almost. "The crew alongside won't be easy to handle either I think."

[Jade]

Her smile widened as Yan agreed. A seemingly capable ally was an important thing, indeed - Thomas was fine around the ship, once you persuaded him to actually help out, but he wasn't much of a fighter. And, looking to the future, convincing others to join her would be an incredibly important activity; one cannot lead an organization without people to make up that organization.

... Well, to be fair, she was only hiring this man on as help for the job, but the theory was the same. The white-haired woman finished her third cup of tea as Yan offered up his advice - a duel? "I suppose that could be done - though I'm afraid he likely has a better reach with his swords than I could hope to attain with my hands." Once again setting the empty cup down, Bianca mulled over the suggestion. "It would be risky, but risks must be taken in this line of work... Yes, okay. I will attempt to challenge him to a duel."

With that, Bianca stood up. "Thomas, begin making preparations to set off - we'll go around the island to meet the Ronin." She stepped closer to the table, pouring herself yet another cup of tea. "If you could lead us to his ship, that would be most helpful. As you saw on the lower deck, my ship is outfitted with a small number of holding cells. We'll be placing Moto Chitsu in one of those after we successfully capture him, and I'd rather not have to drag him across an island to do so."

Thomas, with an exaggerated sigh for effect, stood again and began pushing the cart back over to the table, clearing away everything except the teapot and cup Bianca was still using. "Hey, Bi. Is it such a good idea to take our ship so close to, uh, y'know... Pirates? I'd image they have cannons and whatnot, right? I think I'd be- uh, I mean, the ship would be safer if we stayed docked here in Sedna Town..." Receiving only a raised brow in answer, the wannabe bounty hunter sighed. "Hey, it was worth a shot, right? Alright, alright, I'm going. You wanna use the paddle to get there?"

"Yes, I believe that would speed things along quite nicely." Bianca grinned, taking her cup with her as she moved toward the front of the ship. "I imagine the trip will take a little while still, sir. While we will need your help to find the Ronin and his ship, you should take this time to rest."

[Flame]

She agreed to his plan of the duel, Yan thought it was a decent one. He was still wounded and recovering, it hadn't even been a full day yet since his last defeat. He was in no condition to really help a fight. Especially not against a skilled fighter, he'd likely be more a hindrance than a help, or so he believed. Standing up he reached for the spear which still leaned against the back of the chair. Placing his wrist beneath the spear he popped it upwards bouncing the spear calmly into his opposite hand.

Yan smiled slightly at his little trick, such small things amused him greatly even if they were of no real use. In any case he believed that they improved his dexterity with the spear making it easier to manipulate. As the talk Bianca gave continued Yan paused. In his head he rewinded what had been said pausing for a moment, something sounded off. Thinking on it for a moment, it suddenly hit him. "Mmmmm I don't really know where to land a ship. We can try and go around and find a place. But I've no clue where he is in relation to the shore."

The lanky spearman rubbed the bottom of his chin thoughtfully. He had heard multiple places of where the crew could've been. Some said they were in the abandoned mayor's mansion. But that hadn't been the case, though he had noted a few pirate-ish looking things in there when he'd gone exploring. It had been empty and no help, it was his second lead that had brought him to the edge of town. Where the forest stalked upwards, the last remains of what probably used to be the main flora of the island, the stumps of once large coniferous trees surrounded a large clay building, a lumber mill.

"Last I checked Ronin and some of his crew were on the edge of town, at the abandoned lumber mill. Who knows if they're still there though." He said pessimistically, though I suppose there is no real reason for them to leave either? They did defeat me soundly ... He thought letting out an audible sigh.

"Either way, its over there." Yan lazily leveled his spear point in approximately the direction. He wasn't great with maps so doing this based on memory was hardly his specialty. "Somewhere on the west side of town by the remains of forest. Can't miss it, lots of tree stumps, frozen saw dust, its not even that far away." He twisted his weapon back around pressing its butt into the floor of the ship.

Yan closed his eyes and remembered it, it was even more dreary than the town itself, though he could've hardly believed it at the time. A strange hideout for a group of pirates it seemed, it was why he had gone to it second. I guess thats right though, they were a rather interesting group of pirates ... Yan thought about it for a moment before setting the thought aside.

[Jade]

"Oh, I see." She turned around and drank her whole cup of tea in one go. "Then I will ask that you lead the way by foot."

Somewhere, deep down, Bianca was a little disappointed that she wouldn't be able to show off the Porcelain Lady's steam engine, but if all went well, there would be plenty of time for that once they had captured Moto Chitsu. Meanwhile, Thomas seemed relieved to hear that he wouldn't need to get any closer to the actual combat, and he disappeared to the lower deck once more.

"Well then, Yan. Allow me to collect my things, and we can be on our way." She walked off toward the kitchen area, disappearing from Yan's sight as she made her way toward her quarters.

It was a spacious room, by all accounts. A large bed with padded sides so that the sleeper wouldn't be tossed out by the rocking of the waves took up the majority of the room, though there was also a closet and two desks - one for writing, and another for her tinkering. And on the second, larger desk, was what she had come to get - her Oolong Shot. The large firearm was the lovechild of a cannon and a rifle, with a long shoulder strap to make carrying it easier. Bianca grabbed the weapon by the strap, slinging it over her shoulder, and then grabbed the small satchel bag beside it.

With her weapon and ammo, Bianca returned to the open air, and gave Yan another small smile. "All set. Let us not waste another moment!"

---

Moto Chitsu kicked back in the room he had turned into his temporary office. The fact that he was supposed to simply sit around for a whole day... There had already been one challenger, and he had a gut feeling that there would be more. "How troublesome. Ho-tro." He ran his hand through his hair to curb the desire to hold onto his sword's hilt - there was a definite tension in the air of this damn island.

The door to his makeshift office slammed open, and before he could even register who was at the door, the Ronin had his blade at their throat. "Woah there, boss. It's just me." A burly man wearing only a pair of overalls connected to short-shorts stood in the door's frame, leaning away from the blade that had just trimmed his graying beard. "Was just wondering - we just supposed to stand around? When are we going to head into town?"

The swordsman and rookie pirate captain sighed, putting his sword back down on the desk he had pulled into the center of the room. "That is a reasonable question. Tha-que." He kicked his feet up onto the desk, leaning back with his hands behind his head. "Yes. Our orders are to wait here until tomorrow afternoon - that is when they will be arriving. The plan will not work unless everything, and everybody, is in position. We must be ready to play our parts."

---

"A twenty-plus person crew, you said?" Bianca gave Yan a glance as they walked. Even with the abandoned lumber mill just coming in to view now, she could make out the shapes of 12 men posted around the premises, clearing filling the role of guards for the time being. "Yes, I could see that being the case. I'll be demanding that duel as soon as we're close enough."

As the duo drew closer to the building, one of the guards - a young woman with multi-colored neon hair - finally seemed to notice them. She sped over on wheeled shoes to a big, barrel-chested man, who in turn turned to face the two wanderers making their way toward their base. The barrel-chested man took a deep breath, and then bellowed his question to the pair. "Hoooooo there! Whoooo aaare yooou?"

"Now would seem to the be the time," Bianca said to Yan, and then gave her attention back to the pirates preparing to meet them.

"I am Bianca Stark. I have come to challenge your captain to a duel."

[Flame]

If Yan was happy with how events were playing out he definitely did not show it. Standing in the garden grasping his spear lightly he wincing touched the wound at his abdomen. It had already closed up, but the pain was still there and would probably trouble him for a while longer if he suspected correctly. His eyes ever went to the gray sky of Sedna, it was like the island plain and boring. Perhaps it was affecting him, the environment as whole. He couldn't be certain, but he certainly didn't feel happy. Perhaps melancholy was a good description of it.

As Bianca returned from her quick sojourn to her room he glanced her over quickly. With a satchel bag at her side and some strange small cannon looking device strapped to her back she was apparently ready. An odd weapon, Yan made note to stay away from it until he learned more. Such things tended to have awkward consequences when they malfunctioned, he'd stay as far from that as possible. Such technology was too much of a pain for him to trouble himself with. There were no odd variables with his spear, he understood it well. Maybe they'll just let me go huh ... He suspected they might given that they had the first time.

"Right then, lets go." He said apathetically as he led Bianca off ship and back into town. The route they took was likely not the fastest, he didn't know the 'fast' route so to speak. He simply walked, turning when he thought to turn, trying to find landmarks that seemed familiar. In the end the path wound almost all the way back to the affluent section of town but he turned a little early on a presumption that another road would meet the one he took from the mayor's mansion to the mill.

Even then tracking it down had been hard, the grey streets of Sedna almost all looked the same to him save for the rich district. Buildings of brick and mortar worn by time all with the same feeling of disregarding visitors made for a village that was hard to navigate. Yan suspected that even the civilians would have trouble at times, but of course he wasn't sure. The walk itself was rather quiet, at least on Yan's part. He was too concentrated on finding the lumber mill again to properly hold a conversation.

As it finally came into view Yan turned his attention back to the white-haired bounty huntress next to him. "Yeah at least twenty, probably more." He replied to Bianca's question. He had only seen so many as had watched his fight with the boss. No doubt there were more doing other things about the island or even at the mill itself. Already from there position a multitude of guards could be noted just standing about the mill, milling about. As they finally noticed Yan and Bianca walking up to them, one larger brute of a man bellowed out his question.

Given that this was Bianca's mission he allowed her to answer. Staying quiet on the side of everything. Her response was straightforward and to the point. And coming from the short girl beside him the large man glanced at those about him and began to laugh. Those guards about him who had also heard her request joined him in the laughter. Yan sighed he could hardly blame them, the girl and himself made a strange looking pair. Especially given his current state it was laughable. "But really," he turned to Yan pausing for a moment.

"What're you- Oh, you're that one from earlier huh. So she was telling the truth?" Yan glanced away from it all. In a softer than soft voice he responded. "yeah" The barrel-chested man let out another hoot of laughter slapping himself on the knee as he did so. "Ho, ho well let's see girly." He glanced back over at Bianca eyeing her up and down. His eyes momentarily rested on the small cannon strapped to her back. Turning back to those behind him he glanced about. "Whaddya say, should we call the captain?" The group murmured among themselves for a moment.

"Couldn't hurt could it, he seems an understanding man." Yan added in quietly. The words elicited glares from the guard detail. But they seemed to take what he said into consideration and continued to talk among themselves for a moment before sending one of their number off to the lumber mill itself. "Well we'll see if the captain'll see you."

[Jade]

The laughter was certainly not appreciated, to be sure. It was a shame that only the captain had a bounty - Bianca wouldn't have minded an excuse to drag the crew back to her ship as well. The neon-haired girl who had first spotted them responded to the laughter by kicking the barrel-chested man in the back of the neck, seeming similarly annoyed by the obvious reason behind the laughter. She skated back into the building shortly after, however.

"Yes, if you could see about that, that would be splendid. I don't have all day, after all," she responded to the big barrel-chested man, who laughed back at her, waving a hand back at Bianca as he moved toward the front door. Before he could head inside, the door was pushed open into his face, knocking the man unconscious with the force.

The opener of the door was an even bigger man - his head of hair and neatly-trimmed beard looked to have gone grey years ago, but he was still built like a solid brick wall. A fact that one was forcibly reminded of - his muscular body and hairy chest were exposed, neatly outlined by the black suspenders that were tasked with keeping his black spandex short-shorts up. "The boss has heard the challenge of Bianca Stark! Ms. Stark, our captain will be out in a moment." This older man stood a head taller than Yan, a fact which quickly became more and more apparent as he drew closer, arms crossed over his chest. He didn't seem to register the fact that he had knocked out his fellow crew member, and was further oblivious to the calls of the others trying to draw it to his attention. The man finally stopped ten feet in front of Yan and Bianca, and gave the white-haired huntress a once-over. Bianca simply stared back at him until he spoke again. "Just so you know, you shouldn't expect our boss to go easy on you on account of how delicate you look. Just ask the beanpole beside you." The older gentleman laughed heartily at his own "joke", and then took a few steps to the side. "I trust you know the code of conduct for a duel, little miss?"

Bianca didn't respond right away, and then shrugged. "In truth, no. I actually-"

"One-on-one, no outside interference." Moto Chitsu stood in the doorway, his katana resting on his shoulder and his wakizashi in its sheath. The white-haired girl noted that Yan had spoken the truth - both of the man's swords were of a greater size than what they should have been for a man of his size. "On-int. Bianca Stark, I am Moto Chitsu. Bi-Chi."

"I see no reason to insult me, given that we've just met, Ronin," Bianca responded flatly. The large older man to her side, the rest of Moto Chitsu's crew, and Moto Chitsu himself seemed taken aback and even a little confused.

"I... Excuse me? I-me? I didn't insult you... I-you."

Another shrug from Bianca. "If you say so. Now then, thank you for accepting my duel, Moto Chitsu. Shall we begin?" Waiting only a split second for Moto Chitsu's response, the bounty huntress spun her firearm into position, pointing it to face at the swordsman - and then fired, sending a ball careening toward the man. The "Rampant Ronin" spun his sword into position in what seemed to be an attempt to stop the shot, but simply caused it to shatter, pelting him with tiny harmless pellets.

"Hm, what is this? Hm-thi?" The pirate stopped,
putting his finger against his shirt, pulling away a small, light brown seed.

"This is the power of my Niwa Niwa no Mi - the power of the Garden Human." She placed her outstretched palm in Moto Chitsu's direction.

A beam of green light hit him right as the swordsman seemed to grasp that something was about to happen, and by then the seeds had sprouted, growing at an unnatural pace. Vines of ivy grew from his torso and arms, creeping up his body as they tried to restrict his arms; a handful of rose bushes grew, sprouting beautiful white flowers as the thorns pricked the pirate's skin. After taking a moment to take in what was happening, Moto Chitsu began working at the plants, trying to pull them all from his body with his free hand. "A Devil Fruit user... A-use. Fascinating! You've got a few tricks up your sleeves, don't you, girl? Yo-gir!" As he responded, the pirate captain lunged forward, making a quick diagonal sweep with his katana.

Bianca was busy sliding her Oolong Shot off her shoulder as the attack came, and the blow connected, tearing through the front of her vest and dress shirt, drawing blood from her shoulder down to just above her stomach. She gritted her teeth - it was a shallow cut. Apparently the pirate was pulling his punches, despite what the bare-chested older man had said. With both her hands free now, however, she was able to capitalize on the closed distance between them; the white-haired huntress lunged forward herself, fingers outstretched, and she too connected. Her blow found its way through the vines and past the rose thorns, striking Chitsu in the chest. 

[Flame]

On the sidelines for this Yan simply sat about. Finding his way to a nice stump with a view of the area the pair were fighting in, the lanky man carefully deposited himself rump first upon the encircling rings of wood. He didn't particularly care much for watching the fight, but standing seemed a pain so this was a decent pause from it all. Sitting upon the stump he sat upright and tilted his head up to the sky. It was an uneasy sky, but thankfully it was also a dull one.

The colors lacked a brightness that might keep one awake or interested. Thoughtlessly Yan's mouth widened and out from it came a long exhaling of air. His eyes teared up as the yawn passed out of him and he deflated slightly. II'll just hope they don't bother me for a bit. Ay Ay, I hope it lasts long and they persevere on. He made a lazy prayer to the gods or whoever else might be listening. His hand drew itself across his face as he wiped away the small droplets of liquid congealing upon them. Stifling another yawn he let loose his final wrist allowing his spear to come to rest upon his shoulder. Making up for it he leaned forward to catch it before the blade tried to rest upon his skin.

Glancing about the abandoned saw mill, well abandoned no more, it did really fit its name. There didn't look to be any work done recently, and a number of stumps had saplings literally growing out of them. It was for the most part a nice place to nap if he did say so himself. Well if not for the pirate crew mousing about in the area.

"So what's the deal why're you back here loser." The voice of the guard from earlier dispelled the trance of Yan's serenity. Turning his head over slightly to look he noted the big man from earlier standing there watching him with arms crossed. Behind him a few more milled about taking quick glances at the pair. "It's a job, I'm ... guarding her." He gestured blankly in the direction that the pair were fighting. "But a duel is a duel, I won't interfere." Yan said glancing away from the man.

"Huh, well a job's a job I guess. If you had this why'd you come earlier then, wanted to get your ass handed to you?" He let out a sigh, this man didn't have any tact either, though he was a pirate. Perhaps she shouldn't expect it out of such people. Yeah, that was probably the case. "Just got the job a short while ago. Tried to convince her not to go, but the lass is confident. That accounts for-" Yan paused, experience counted for a lot, confidence counted as a solid chance to die as far as he had seen. He stopped his statement there and failed to continue.

Besides at the same time his voice was drowned out by a chorus of cheers from the pirates. For what they cheered he didn't look, probably a hit, they had done the same when the Ronin had landed his first hit on Yan. Well it was to be expected, Yan shrugged his shoulders and continued to look up at the sky. "But yeah, its just a job ..."

[Jade]

The larger older man laughed at Yan's explanation. "Aye, confidence is good for one thing. Getting brats killed!" The other members of the Ronin's crew were busy watching the fight, cheering on their captain, or helping the barrel-chested man who had first addressed Bianca and Yan from afar get back up after being knocked cold by the door slamming open.

The Rampant Ronin himself took a step back, pressing his sword hand against his chest. "That's... Interesting. Th-int. Fighting with your fingers like that, fi-tha..." He kept his sword in position between himself and Bianca, making it abundantly clear what would happen if the bounty huntress made another attempt to clear the distance between them.

Bianca began to circle around to the right, keeping his sword in sight all the while. She had fallen silent for the first time since she had encountered Yan, devoting all of her energy to this fight. Watch the way he moves. Find a way to get in around his sword. Simple enough to say, harder to put into practice. The swordsman took another step back, and the moment to clear the distance came in - his sword changed position as he used it to clear away the vines from his left arm, freeing it up to grab his secondary blade. Bianca launched herself forward, striking at the swordsman with a series of fast-paced strikes aimed at his torso and arms. As each strike connected, she had to take another short step to keep up with Moto Chitsu's steps back, and the blows to the arms were at least rattling him as his grip on his swords loosened.

The swordsman narrowed his eyes, tightened his grip on his weapons, and retaliated, swinging his wakizashi at Bianca's face, nicking her cheek as she attempted to get out of the way by circling around him. He spun in response as well, stopping her progress by bringing his katana into position, and then launched into his own barrage of blows.

---

"Yeah, that idiot's just accepting duels left and right. Can you believe it?" The neon-haired girl with the roller skates said, speaking into the transceiver of the green Den Den Mushi on Moto Chitsu's desk. "Why, if I didn't know any better, I'd say he wanted to endanger the mission~!" The girl put her hand to her mouth, doing her best expression of shock, and then fell into a fit of giggles.

The snail fell silent, and then went back to miming the person on the other end's chewing. "This is troublesome information indeed. However, it is too late now, if the duel is progressing as you say. I have full faith in Chitsu's ability to handle himself." The snail fell silent again as the other person took another bite of whatever they were eating. "I will talk with him after this is dealt with."

---

Meanwhile, Bianca was doing her best to defend against or dodge the sword strikes, but there was only so much she could do against the Rampant Ronin's weapon and apparent skill. The sleeves of her white dress shirt were well and truly bloodied at this point from the slashes that had caught her arms, and her vest had certainly seen better days. I need to catch my breath. If he beats me down like this now, there's no chance of recovery... Not that the swordsman was making it easy on her. He hadn't let up on his furious offensive yet, and he was showing no signs of stopping anytime soon. My style isn't defensive, so I need to push the offensive.

With her little mental pep talk over, Bianca positioned her body to face toward the left, away from Moto Chitsu, bringing her right hand up. "Lady Grey..." A forward lunge, as an overhead slash barely missed its now smaller target, and her fingers connected into the pirate's chest."Stilleto."

In conjunction with her strikes to his chest from before, the damage she had done to him so far became apparent with this bigger attack - the swordsman spit up some blood at that, falling backward a few steps. He seemed as shocked as anyone, and the sudden distance between them gave Bianca her chance to catch her breath.

"Oh ho?" The older man standing beside Yan seemed suddenly a bit more interested in the fight. "So she's stronger than she looks, eh?"

[Flame]

"There we agree." Yan said as he closed his eyes and faded away from the fighting. Spear sitting patiently on his shoulder he breathed in and out. There was a faint smell of something odd on the wind. Probably the make-up applied to one of the nearby pirate's face. He vaguely recognized the smell so that might be it. Taking another deep breath he paused then sniffed. No, this smell was familiar for a different reason.

Much simpler and obvious was the reason he recognized it, it was sawdust. The churning ashes of wood which sprinkled the ground though mostly frozen to it still produced their usual aroma. They were like dust, the step of a foot kicked even a little of them up. Infesting the ground and then the air they consumed the area about the stumps. Its a nice smell His mind spoke in quiet thought to itself. Perhaps for most it was just an odd one, but for Yan this is what he grew up smelling. Even if the wood was not the same, if the wood was used for different purpose it was the same all the same. He reminisced fondly on his past, on Treegap as he remembered it. Yeah I should definitely head back there, it'll be good for me.

Rising back up form his somewhat hunched position he sat back up straight. His body reaching its full length, it pulled the spear haft in alongside it. Casually he brushed sawdust off his shoulders, their feathery tendrils scratched softly against his exposed shoulder and muscle. "Oh? Going to action? Is the beat-up bodyguard going to stop this before the girl is completely shredded?" The booming man beside Yan asked in his amused fashion.

"Huh? Oh, is she doing that bad?" Yan asked curiously he'd not taken a single glance at the fight yet. Opening a single eye he glanced as Bianca and the Ronin clashed. Or better said Bianca did her best to dodge and the Ronin went at her. Or at least so it seemed to Yan. His mouth breached open as he let forth a further yawn yet. "Ouch, is this what it looked like when I fought him?" Yan asked into the sound of cheers as the Ronin scored another few cuts here and there. His question was lost beneath the roars and he was in the end okay with letting it be ignored.

With a single eye watching the fight he missed much but still he noticed when she was able to close enough distance to land what looked to be a finger poke upon him. The Ronin seemed to pause slightly at the hit, Yan's second eye opened slightly and his half opened eyes watched curious as to what the hold up was.

As the man next to him said something Yan paused in thought. That stopped him? The lanky figure frowned, well perhaps, he'd seem some strangely effective fighting styles in his time. Finger pokes was not the craziest things, maybe. "I guess so. My surprise as much as yours, she called herself a bounty hunter, maybe she has some worth to the title." Yan said with a half-serious grin.

"A bounty hunter huh?" The burly brother beside him flexed his fingers together as he seemed suddenly thoughtful. "If you'll excuse me ..." He left his place beside Yan and began to head back toward the building which housed part of the pirate crew. Which left the spearman alone, sitting upon the stump. About him the other pirates were a whisper and a chatter about the fight. I think I was right, somethings strange about these pirates ... Yan's eyes narrowed clearing from the combat once again to evaluate the crew members. What was odd?

[Jade]

In his haste to get back inside, the giant of a man pushed the front door in, completely ripping it off of its hinges - and once again, he seemed totally unaware of what he had done. Aside from Yan, however, no one seemed to notice him going back into the building.

"Sorbet! Is the boss still on the line?" His voice dipped, not quite quiet enough to truly be a whisper.

"Huh? Oh, no, he just hung up."

He picked the two snails up and spun them around to face him, and then set to dialing. "Boss! The girl we told you about - the one here to duel Mochi? Turns out she's a bounty hunter. What do you want us to do?"

The green Den Den Mushi gave the older man a bored look. "I see. Mochi can handle himself, but if a bounty hunter is here... I don't think we can risk the two of you being here any longer than necessary." The Den Den paused again as it mimed the act of chewing. "Agent Sorbet, Agent Bratwurst. I'm commanding the two of you to pull back from the Sedna operation. I need the two of you to disappear for the time being - go into hiding somewhere else on the island. We will pick you up when we arrive tomorrow. Bratwurst, take the White Den Den with you as you go."

The neon-haired girl and the shirtless older man exchanged looks, and then nodded. "You've got it, boss!" "We hear you loud and clear!"

---

Moto Chitsu - or, perhaps it would be simpler to call him Mochi? - wiped away the blood from around his mouth and stood tall once again. "We are playing the named technique game - we~gam? Very well - two can play at that - ve~tha! I guarantee that this next attack will blow you away - I~awa!"

As he finished, he took his hands, placing his left hand over his right, laying his two weapons parallel to one another. "Fuusetsu!" He swung the two blades and a white arc of wind flew forth, snow fluttering to the ground as it traveled.

Bianca, despite actively watching this attack build up, wasn't able to react in time. A frigid gale of slicing wind made impact, slicing clean through the sleeves of her dress shirt as she raised them to protect her face. No extra blood this time, however, as the blood that would've seeped through had found itself frozen. It was quickly melting, however, and the feeling of her arms freezing and promptly thawing out so quickly was perhaps more painful than the attack itself - which, in truth, hadn't cut very deep. If he's pulling out attacks like this, then I need to end this as quickly as possible...

The bounty huntress made her move, closing the distance between herself and Mochi once again. As she moved, she opened the pouch at her waist, and in one smooth motion dipper her fingers in and performed another lunging strike on the Rampant Ronin. "Sayama Snare." Her fingers barely brushed up against the man's chest - the contact was brief and barely more than a brush, but it was more than enough to touch the seed to him and activate her ability. The bamboo grew rapidly, quickly wrapping itself around the man's upper body - forcing his arms together at his front, restricting his body in a moment. He struggled against it, but this brief moment where he was restrained and not moving gave Bianca all the time she needed. The white-haired girl brought herself face-to-face with the man as he was stumbling backward, folding her hands together, fingers outstretched, over her belly.

"Hyson..." Her hands flew forward, pressing into the man's belly and then further, pushing him backward with the force. "Pike."

Mochi's face screwed up in pain, and he fell forward as Bianca stepped back. He had started bleeding from his mouth again, but he wasn't conscious by the time his head hit the ground.

[Flame]

Interested he eyed those who were still watching. The lanky figured watched the pirates as they stood about watching their captain and the bounty hunter fight. With a single hand of his spear he brought the other to the stubble starting to grow out of his chin and scratched it slightly, what exactly was odd about them. Can't really put it into words Yes they were unruly like pirates, but a bit more organizedly so. Yan brought his hand at his chin to his head and pinched a bit of skin between his eyebrows. Was that it?

Maybe, he glanced at more of them unable to shake the itchy feeling. He really wanted to be over the feeling, a slight twitch in his forehead alerted to the coming headache this was becoming. Reaching behind him he grabbed at the ravaged sleeve at what was once his jacket. With a swift pull he ripped off part of the fabric. Patting it across his face he swiped away some dust which had been gathering upon his skin.

The exact pinching of his head of the headache was slightly put to the rest as he slowly began to wipe away the rough dirtyness of his outer looks. It was still quite calming for him in the end. I guess a drink'll help with what remains ... the thought lingered on his mind for a few moments before he fell pray to it. Reaching down he clasped the gourd hanging off the edge of the stump. Un-stoppering it he lifted it to his lips. The cool liquid rushed down through the opening and he quickly lapped it up.

Flowing a bit faster than he expected he almost choked upon overflowing transparent liquor. Turning the gourd back down he brought it low beneath him and began to slide his face against a free arm. The wet sustenance of it dripped from his jaw and he smiled quietly, laughing to himself as he did so. Replacing the cork back to its rightful place on his bottle he turned his eyes back to the fight. In the end he wasn't particularly interested in it, but he watched as the white-haired girl landed another strange looking technique upon the Ronin.

The Ronin was stilled, it was hard to tell what was going on, but suddenly the Ronin's form began to crumple. Crashing to his knees and then to the ground he dropped. Yan's eyes rose slightly in interest at what had happened. Looking to the left and to the right of him, the pirates were in an uproar it seemed. At first many couldn't believe it but then they watched and waited and then they began to throw their hands up in disbelief. Scratching his head Yan grasped the haft of his spear and leveraged it to get to his feet. Scratching behind his ear, Perhaps she was all she said she was ... probably not worth staying here to really find out huh ... Softly he padded up behind the white-haired girl.

His feet standing lightly upon the ground faced her own. "So you did it. Well that's good ..." Yan glanced about as the pirates abounding him seemed to organize themselves once more. "We should probably leave before they stir up any more commotion. Get the prize and go." He paused glancing at the girl's cut up form and then to the Ronin who was probably closer to Yan's size than hers. Ehh, could he really let her take him. What did guard etiquette dictate? This was such a strange task Yan had not a clue of what to do. Well there was what seemed likely ...

"I'm guessing I'll be the one to lug him about?" The lanky spearman said already expecting the response.

[Jade]

Bianca took a moment to take stock of the situation, breathing heavily. Moto Chitsu was unconscious on the ground. Her arms and stomach had been ripped up fairly well, but there were no particularly deep cuts - she suspected that the swordsman had been holding back somewhat. Yan had made his way over toward her - his presence had been helpful in getting here, but not so much in the actual taking down of the pirate. But that was probably about to change.

The Ronin's crew, after a moment of shock, were recovering - some were grabbing their weapons from where they had left them to rest, while other were simply coming in with their fists. "I would certainly appreciate that, but can you drag him and outrun them in your state?" The white-haired huntress swiveled her head around, looking for her bizarre cannon-like weapon. "I think it might be better to simply deal with this lot as quickly as we can before taking off. I still have a little fight in me! What say you, Yan?" Spotting the Oolong Shot a couple yards back, Bianca directed a short 'shuuuu~susususu' at her bodyguard as she ran over to the firearm.

Not waiting for an answer, Bianca picked the weapon up, loading a shot from her bag into the weapon's front. The pirate crew was almost upon the duo as Bianca took her shot, and another shot like the one she had fired before flew out. This one was aimed over the open air above the pirates, where it fell apart over their heads, raining seeds on them from on high - and then the beam of green light hit them. More slowly than when Bianca had caused the bamboo to ensnare their captain but still far faster than any plant should ever grow, a veritable forest sprouted from the ground around their feet and bodies.

The foliage slowed the charge, catching a handful of the pirates in the middle of the group up as they suddenly found themselves in the middle of rose bushes, up in a tree branches, or tangled up with vines. Those who had been leading the pack were still well on their way to clashing with Yan, however, and those behind the ones caught up in the flora were making their way around the obstacle.

The bounty huntress grinned through her pain, dropping the Oolong Shot once again as a few of the pirates changed direction to come at her. "Thank you for coming with me - I would not have been able to handle this on my own. Now, I have one selfish request - help me get into his base before we go!"

[Flame]

Yan was already stooping down when she responded. His eyes upturned and glanced about them at the pirates who were clearly upset with the results of the duel already. A sweat drop rolled uncomfortably down the edge of his cheek and he stood back up from stooping looking about. As Bianca spoke again putting to him the idea of just dealing with the still standing pirates about them Yan sighed. It seemed as she was saying that she was already preparing to unstrap the weapon on her back.

"I don't really get a choice her do I" he commented dejectedly as the pirates began to charge towards the pair. The lanky man groaned in annoyance. He had hoped to avoid any sort of fighting till his wounds were more thoroughly healed, but his choices were limited at best. Limited? There's no choice, Yan took a breath.

The slow inhale began it and his form seemed to rise and grow as it did. Chest pumped and stuck itself out as the premiere. It was followed by a smooth exhale. Yan's figure fell with it, his legs widened to form a solid base beneath him. His arms in different positions at the start came together and momentarily seemed to mirror each other. As he did so, he let loose his grip on the spear's shaft. Placing the back of his hand against it as it stood upon the ground he swept the butt into the air. In response the front fell down, tip aimed plainly at the incoming pirates. His free hand was already in place to catch it, and just like that he found himself ready and prepared.

Beside him the white haired huntress let loose an odd bullet from her mini-cannon-thingamabob. It ended up showering them with what he now figured were seeds, at once her devil fruit power came to work. Growing up quickly a miniature garden of plants appeared beneath them ensnaring a score of them within its branches and vines. Of course it was imperfect and a few who were fast of the foot had passed unscathed beneath that shower. "Guess these are mine." He murmured mostly to himself.

Stepping before Bianca he narrowed his eyes and centered his position. From behind him the bounty hunter began to speak again. Another request it seemed, the words fell on his ears and Yan scowled. But there were other things to deal with at the moment so he said nothing in response. With a decisive first step he shifted forward, letting go his forward hand, he let loose from the rear with a shockingly fast spear thrust. The metal blade of the spear soaked itself with blood as it punctured the belly of the foremost pirate taken aback by the speed of the attack. Yan breathed out, reversing the spear swiftly out of the man's abdomen. He sunk to the ground, Bleh,
gonna have to clean that off later ... maybe I should- His thought was cut off as he was arcing the blade of the weapon into the air.

A second pirate was incoming, closing quickly at that. Soon he'd be too close for him to properly spear fight. That was no good, his thrusting hand twisted about the blade reversing its grip. The pirate stepped within the wooden haft range of Yan's spear and had a smile about his face. Raising a mace above his head he came in for the swing. Yan stepped back with a single foot, twisting about the falling mace allowing it to scratch the ground. "I can take care of those outside, doing both tasks might be a bit much." Yan said loudly as he allowed his spear to tilt backwards. As the blade fell back behind him the iron-headed butt swung up.

Careful movement of hand and arm allowed the butt of the spear to swing up cracking the pirate on the chin. I'm not really good at this but, let's hope being a shipwright has counted for something. His still freehand swung in behind as the thrust hand tried to control the spear and he slammed his fist soundly into the man's gut. "Why isn't Thomas here anyways" Yan asked mostly rhetorically. The pirate before him staggered backwards and Yan glanced at his arm which was ringing still from the impact. I was never really made for punching was I ...