Round-Up on Rondure! Spores & Sports, Slaves & Saves!

[Vio]

^{Scarlette #1}

---

Round lanterns burned with a dim and eerie light, casting strange shadows about the undercroft of an isolated building some ways away from the main city — shadows with distinctly rounded features. Sat around a circular table whose hemispherical pillar made it lean awkwardly whenever one put their weight on it, suspicious figures muttered and grunted to one another.

“So, what’s the plan?” questioned one. His rotund shadow stood tall over all but one, despite the fact that he was sat upon a small stool that barely maintained his weight. In his chubby hands was a large bowl of stew, in which floated balls of meat and vegetables, and he slurped his dish merrily as he awaited a response. To his flank was a woman, side-eyeing him with disgust, with a slender form, peaked cap, and curled ponytail.

“You know full well what the plan is, Kemari,” another man replied. Of somewhat above average size and well muscled, dark skin glistening in the lantern glow. Gingerly he fed himself meatballs from his own dish, but all the same maintained a menacing look. “We must acquire fresh slaves to be sold before moving on, ideally those that can be sold for a higher price,” he continued, a darker undertone in his voice emerging as he added, “even if we must break them first!”

^{“One problem there, Ulama,” the woman sighed:
“We’re on Rondure — the place isn’t that exotic!”}

“That is true, Joyce,” Ulama grumbled, daintily biting another meatball.

^{“Don’t worry!”
“All we have—”
“To do is—”
“Keep searching!”}

Two bundles of energy, neither more than five feet in stature, alternated their comments perfectly. Twins — almost identical save for their sexes — shared a chair a little further around from Ulama. Light blond, emerald eyed, with hair arranged into an ovular bun at the top; it was hard to tell them apart.

^{“Ping, Pong,” Joyce commented:
“Shouldn’t you two be asleep?”}

“I wo— wo— wouldn’t worry, Joyce,” hiccoughed another woman, face flushed pink with one hand against a pillar of the undercroft to support her weight. A long braid was wrapped around her collar several times over, like some sort of vine, and in her free hand she held a large gourd whose liquid contents sloshed with every shaky movement she made.

“Bowahaha! Ease up on the booze, Q! You’re smashed again!” Kemari commented, having completely cleaned his bowl, stock and all. “Save some for Polo and the others!”

^{—— THE NEXT MORNING, APPROX. 10:30 AM ——}

“Ladies and gentlemen, I would very much like to make an announcement,” Hannibal Lecter called out, even going so far as to ring a small handbell he had acquired from amongst the sailboat’s miscellaneous cargo. The sun was bright, the sky filled with clouds — purest white and almost perfectly circular — and a moderate tailwind guiding the sails. Overall, it was a fine day, and the turbulent seas of the Grand Line had been extremely accommodating of their presence despite the overburdened vessel tempting fate at every wave’s crest.

^{A loud yawn made itself known:
“Ah~! … What is it, Lecter?”}

“Take a look for yourself, Big Sister,” said the suited sir with a gesture to the horizon. Sure enough, the pallid and scarred woman that was Grimm-Rosa Scarlette stepped forth, jet hair windswept and chocolate eyes — one of which still covered by gauze — blinking slowly as she observed the horizon. It had crept up on them, but it was very much present; an island of significant breadth, with what seemed to be an arrangement of domes and spheres about its shoreline.

^{“Finally,” the one-armed woman beamed:
“It’ll be nice to have some breathing room!”}

“We can also ditch this hunk of junk,” John Kramer mumbled.

---

SPOILER: Click to show

{Cast | Colour Codes}

<sub>The Big Sis Pirates
• Grimm-Rosa Scarlette | #960018 (Carmine)
• Hannibal Lecter [NPC] | #87a96b (Artichoke)
• John Kramer [NPC] | #80461b (Russet)
• Jack Torrance [NPC] | #87d3f8 (Pale Cyan)
• Yamamura Sadako [NPC] | #9370db (Medium Purple)
• Todd Sweeney [NPC] | #c54b8c (Mulberry)
• Michael Myers [NPC] | #1b1b1b (Eerie Black)
• Jason Voorhees [NPC] | #0070bb (Spanish Blue)
• Billy Loomis [NPC] | #696969 (Dim Grey)
• Freddy Krueger [NPC] | #b8860b (Dark Goldenrod)
• Charles Ray [NPC] | #43b3ae (Verdigris)
• Patrick Bateman [NPC] | #dc143c (Crimson)
• Bubba Sawyer [NPC] | #fffacd (Lemon Chiffon)
• Cujo [NPC] | #d2691e (Cocoa Brown)

The Other Group
• Polo [NPC] | #e23d28 (Chili Red)
• Kemari [NPC] | #c71585 (Red-Violet)
• Ulama [NPC] | #317873 (Myrtle Green)
• Joyce [NPC] | #d0f0c0 (Tea Green)
• Ping [NPC] | #fefefa (Baby Powder)
• Pong [NPC] | #36454f (Charcoal)
• Q-Curbita [NPC] | #fdbcb4 (Melon)
• Rugby [NPC] | #893843 (Solid Pink)
• Lacrosse [NPC] | #3ab09e (Keppel)
• Sepak Takraw [NPC] | #6f2da8 (Grape)
• Croquet [NPC] | #eed202 (Safety Yellow)</sub>

[Flame]

Kano #1 / Merle #1

Sitting off the stern of the ship was a silly fool. A silly fool? The silly fool, his legs swinging back and forth uncaringly banging against the rear of the hull drumming along as the heels hit the wood. Blonde hair blew with the wind fluffing some beaten up hoodie that hung over the young man. Stretching his arms backward he was not really paying attention to the action happening farther forward of the crowded ship.

It was the ding of a bell and then the loud exclamation that called his attention around to the front. Pulling his legs up over the edge he got them beneath him and onto the wood. Stepping up onto his feet he stood turning about to look to the fore. Red eyes settled alongside many of his new companions onto one of their number. The name eluded him for a moment. What was it again? The fool, Kano licked his lips, what was the name? Lick? Leck? That sounded- ahh Lecter. There was the name someone else, Scar, said it. The second one, Scar was an easier name to remember given that he was the reason she lacked an arm.

His eyes looked past them to what seemed an island on the horizon. An island? Kano's eyes brightened up, they looked forward towards it. Time off the ship, it was a bit overcrowded. A grin slid across his face as an idea drew to his head to get away from the crowd a bit faster. Kano walked forward towards the rest of the ship's crew.

"I'm gonna scout ahead." The fool declared with a grin as he moved from the rear of the ship towards the front. His eyes observed the island, it was round in more ways than one. He eyed it curiously. Pausing for a moment to see if anyone disagreed with his plan of action.

Having not moved unlike Kano who'd forced his way forward. Merle watched with warier eyes than one might expect for one of this family of shipmates. She smiled slightly as she looked for a moment at the shadow of an island rising into view. But her eyes were ever on the group before her. From what she'd seen they were a strange bunch, and though she counted herself among them in some ways. She was still concerned, still jaded from her past experiences and distrusting.

Of course that didn't stop her as they came closer from taking a better look at the island they approached. It didn't hold her back or even help stifle the giggles as she realized what exactly this island looked like. It was upon closer inspection an island of balls it seemed. Everything even from this distance looked so perfectly round it was highly amusing to her. Her teeth grit as she tried to hold back only letting the smallest of giggles through with each moment.

"You never cease to amaze ..." She said her head turned down as her attempts to stifle were causing her to double over. She spoke of course to the Grand Line itself. As one who had seen many of its wonders she smiled that it continued to go beyond her imagination.

---

(OOC: sorry if i'm a bit rusty)

[Fox]

They had arrived last night under the cover of darkness at an isolated cove decently close to the main city on Rondure. Unfortunately for Quinn, the raft that they’d been using as a transport finally broke beyond Gobbie’s abilities to repair it while they’d been a ways from shore. He had fallen into the water and sunk like a stone, having to be carried the rest of the way by Gobbie, leaving him feeling much akin to a dead fish. After having rapidly and unhappily passed out, Quinn awoke to Gobbie working on what he could only call a giant bowl.

He laid quietly in the sand, resting his head on his hand. What on Earth could she possibly be doing now? He imagined vaguely that she was preparing an enormous bowl of curry or something, but he knew quite acutely that she had no talent in the kitchen. Quinn would hardly classify her sickly concoctions as food. So, after a good few minutes of staring and brewing up hypotheses in his head, he sighed and spoke up.

“Gobbie, what exactly are you doing?”

“Aniki!” Gobbie perked up, turning to him and smiling her wide smile, showing off all her needling teeth. Her loud, thick voice reverberated inside of his skull like the dull thud of thunder. Quinn scowled and rubbed his temples. He felt her footsteps as she stampeded her way over to him and lifted him up by his armpits. He let out an annoyed hiss, but it died in his throat when he saw the sincere concern on his sister’s face. “Are you okay?”

Quinn frowned, this time at himself, chiding himself once again for how he treated his sister. He held up his hands and broke her gentle grip on him, falling to the sand on his tentacles. “Yes, yes. I’m fine. Sorry I worried you… um. What’s that? The thing you’re working on over there. Some kind of… bowl? Bath tub?” He gestured over to it with a weak flailing of his arm so that she knew where to look. Gobbie smiled with a genuine relief that made Quinn’s stomach twist into knots with guilt. She took a little time to dust the sand off of him before turning to look where he was pointing.

“Uh! That’s a boat, Aniki! Can’t you tell?”

“I- Huh? A boat?” Once again questioning the intelligence of his sister, Quinn sauntered over to the wooden bowl and looked inside before looking back at her with an arched brow. “You’re kidding. You’re not serious. Gobbie, boats aren’t… round. Or bowls. You- You know this! I’ve seen you work on actual boats.”

Like an arrow directly into his heart, Gobbie’s lip quivered in that familiar way that made him just want to crawl up in a ball and die. He held up his hands as if to shield himself from the sight, but before he could utter a word of apology, Gobbie spoke up again in a deep whine. “B-But Aniki! The trees here a-are round…” She pointed up the cliff side as if to emphasize her point, but Quinn didn’t immediately spot any of the so called round trees.

“What…?”

He couldn’t stop that incredulous sigh from escaping his lips. That only made Gobbie visibly more upset, making her march over to him and tug on his hand with incredible delicacy so as not to hurt him. He followed along, climbing up on her back as she scaled the cliff side. Their heads poked out over the edge of the cliff and… “Huh.”

Quinn narrowed his eyes and blinked a few times just to make sure that he wasn’t just seeing things. Not only were the trees round, the bushes were round. The rocks were round. Everything was round. Quinn shook his head, almost wanting to believe that it was a dream. The Grand Line sure was strange. He also managed to spot a town not too far off - with round buildings, of course. Gobbie had probably seen them and thought that was the way to build a boat here. He tapped her shoulder lightly, and she clambered back down onto the beach, looking anxious. He held up his hand and nodded to her as if to dispel her worries.

“I saw. I see. Sorry. That’s just… really weird. Why do we always end up on the weird islands…?” Quinn tapped one of his tentacle legs on the sandy beach as he tried to think up a plan. He did not want to even look at a raft or anything raft adjacent ever again. Traveling that way on the Grand Line had nearly killed them a dozen times over. Quinn shuddered, remembering the time that he’d had to make an emergency raft out of mushrooms after a storm had destroyed their old one. “But, Gobbie, please. Don’t make another raft. No more rafts or boats and especially no bowls. Maybe if… it’s safe here, or… if we scope out the town…”

Quinn muttered to himself as Gobbie walked over and stooped down beside him, looking at him curiously. The town… would have hot meals and beds. Well, they’d need to check it first. Make sure the people there, probably all humans, were okay with Fishmen. He’d still need to hide the fact that he was a Merfolk, but that wasn’t too hard with a long enough skirt. Ah… okay. Scope out the town first. Maybe get a meal or two in. And then figure out a safe place to build themselves a real proper ship. With sails and a mast or two. Something that wouldn’t capsize every time a huge wave rolled around. Nodding to himself, he looked at Gobbie and smiled his own crooked smile.

“Alright. I have a plan.”

---

Quinn Bathory | #7FFFD4 (Aquamarine)
Gobbie Bathory | #AFEEEE (Pale Turquoise)

[Vio]

^{Scarlette #2}

---

“Uh, maybe wait until we’re actually at the port before you blast off, Kano?” Patrick Bateman suggested, showing perhaps a little distrust — caution at the very least. “I’d rather you not accidentally set fire to this poor excuse for a seafaring vessel before we make landfall,” the man said, fully aware of the fiery and explosive temperament of the fool’s supernatural gift. They had all witnessed it in action and, though their ‘elder sibling’ had invited the walking fireworks factory amongst their ranks, some were still at least a little cautious of the danger he presented.

^{“Agreed,” Hannibal Lecter nodded:
“It shouldn’t be long, anyway.”}

“Ooh~! It’s all round. Round. Round!” Charles Ray, better known as Chucky, chirped excitedly as he too set his eyes upon the isle that had seemingly tickled Merle’s funny bone. Then again, the latter feat had already been proven a rather simple thing to do.

“If you want to go on ahead, you can,” Grimm-Rosa Scarlette interjected, prompting worrisome looks from the two gentlemen as they side-eyed Kano. “What? It’s not like he’s going to blow the ship up,” the one-armed woman shrugged, seeing no fault in the fool’s idea. Though, despite her confidence in his ability, some consideration did spring to mind: “We should probably come up with an idea of what to do when we get there, though. If we’re ditching this boat, we’re going to need an actual ship.”

“Ship and provisions,” John Kramer added.

^{“Pro— What?”}

^{“Supplies,” Cujo barked:
“Cleaning. Food. Medicine.”}

“Oh, right,” the Red Terror nodded. Her gaze was still mostly focused on the island that they were so rapidly approaching, what with all its domed hills and spherical structures littering the coastline. It was true that Kano could get there faster than the ship, but what would he do when he got there? Admittedly, she didn’t expect him to cause anything untoward without provocation. Despite the Wild Spark’s destructive abilities, from what she had witnessed first hand, he was surprisingly good at directing such devastation. Or, maybe it was a fluke.

^{—— RONDURE PORT, APPROX. 11:00 AM ——}

Mooring lines were cast to the strangely rounded bollards of a circular quay, secured by Voorhees and Sawyer who had swiftly disembarked to aid with the docking procedures. After a surprisingly boring journey in comparison to the excitement of the previous island, the ragtag group of outcasts and oddities had arrived, one by one setting foot upon the sturdy pier and beholding the unusual sight that was their destination. Much as they had seen from afar, every aspect of the land was round in some way, from its geography to its architecture.

“This place is strange,” Todd Sweeney said, viewing the buildings at the end of the jetty — decidedly unusual structures forged of spherical bodies supported by arrangements of cylindrical pillars that formed simple undercrofts. This was seemingly a standard of construction; a jarring contrast to the square standard of architecture that was so typical of the lands beyond.

^{“It’s a good job the people aren’t round,” Torrance chuckled:
“Else we’d really stand out, wouldn’t we? Haha!”}

^“Mmm…”

“Alright, ladies and gentlemen, I have an idea. There’s plenty of us,” Lecter began to suggest, “so why don’t we consider splitting up into a few groups. That way, we can cover more ground and gather information more easily,” he continued: “It’s rather clear none of us know a thing about this island, so what say we spend an hour asking around and getting out bearings?”

^{“Huh? Yeah, I guess,” Scarlette replied:
“Everybody alright with that?”}

---

SPOILER: Click to show

{Cast | Colour Codes}

<sub>The Big Sis Pirates
• Grimm-Rosa Scarlette | #960018 (Carmine)
• Hannibal Lecter [NPC] | #87a96b (Artichoke)
• John Kramer [NPC] | #80461b (Russet)
• Jack Torrance [NPC] | #87d3f8 (Pale Cyan)
• Yamamura Sadako [NPC] | #9370db (Medium Purple)
• Todd Sweeney [NPC] | #c54b8c (Mulberry)
• Michael Myers [NPC] | #1b1b1b (Eerie Black)
• Jason Voorhees [NPC] | #0070bb (Spanish Blue)
• Billy Loomis [NPC] | #696969 (Dim Grey)
• Freddy Krueger [NPC] | #b8860b (Dark Goldenrod)
• Charles Ray [NPC] | #43b3ae (Verdigris)
• Patrick Bateman [NPC] | #dc143c (Crimson)
• Bubba Sawyer [NPC] | #fffacd (Lemon Chiffon)
• Cujo [NPC] | #d2691e (Cocoa Brown)

The Other Group
• Polo [NPC] | #e23d28 (Chili Red)
• Kemari [NPC] | #c71585 (Red-Violet)
• Ulama [NPC] | #317873 (Myrtle Green)
• Joyce [NPC] | #d0f0c0 (Tea Green)
• Ping [NPC] | #fefefa (Baby Powder)
• Pong [NPC] | #36454f (Charcoal)
• Q-Curbita [NPC] | #fdbcb4 (Melon)
• Rugby [NPC] | #893843 (Solid Pink)
• Lacrosse [NPC] | #3ab09e (Keppel)
• Sepak Takraw [NPC] | #6f2da8 (Grape)
• Croquet [NPC] | #eed202 (Safety Yellow)</sub>

[Flame]

Kano #2 / Merle #2

Kano's near immediate launch was paused as one of his crewmates called him out. The fool stopped glancing over at the man. His head tilted sideways awaiting the reasoning, which came soon enough. The fool's response was little more than confusion and blinking. Set fire to the ship? Why would he ever do that. He glanced about in confusion as another agreement came in from Lecter. Kano turned about as he looked at them the frustration plain upon his face. "Have some faith."

The fool's frustration melted away from his face and turned into a smile. "I've not set fire to the ship yet." There was no concern upon his face as he brimmed with confidence in his own statement. When Scarlette came to Kano's defense he gave her another grin despite what seemed to be some maligned glances at him. The walking firework shrugged the erstwhile worries of his crewmates aside for now. Their worries were not his. Mmmm so should he go on ahead? The question bothered him for almost a second until he made a decision.

----

"Yeah provisions sounds like a good idea." She didn't know about the other cook but she was certainly running low on certain supplies she needed. Whether it be from her medic kit or her 'pantry' as one might call it. The heavily increased number of people to help feed alongside the oddities of having two cooks of very different styles on the same ship was showing teething problems. One that was clear when they compared remaining stocks.

She was about to speak when a pair of 'soft' bangs interrupted her. The fishwoman's eyes swiveled to see the fool's form speeding ahead of the ship. She sighed and shook her head before bursting into a quick bout of chuckles. Blackened marks on the deck of the ship were the obvious signs of where he'd taken off from. Merle rolled her eyes, this was typical, typical of that fool at the very least. At least nothing was burning she thought to herself with a smile.

"I think we'll also need to watch him." She said with a grin that held both exasperation and amusement upon it.

---

Arriving at the port Merle had been one of the first off. Jogging down onto the wharf she looked out about the port quickly for. Her eyes fell upon the bobbing head of blonde hair heading towards them. She shook her head unsure if she felt amusement or not in the moment. With him found she turned back around to the conversation she'd been listening for. "I'm good with that. And if I can, I'd like to be with a group going for supplies.". Then paused for only a moment, "Food and medicine." She quickly added on to specify what she needed.

"I suppose that means Cujo and Bubba are with me." She said mostly as an afterthought to it.

"Oiiii!" Coming up behind her Kano arrived at something only mildly short of a run. His heels dug in sending hi mskidding to a halt among the group. "Took ya long enough to get here." He said as he looked about the group. "So what's the plan?" A question that earned him a few strange glances before Lecter came to his rescue relaying the plan again.

"Huh."

The fool's head nodded up and down as he took in the plan. Sounded like, adventure! Exploring, he'd done a bit of it already having arrived a bit sooner than the rest of them. The island from what he'd seen was amazingly interesting. The roundness of everything, it was like a thousand moons. Though none of them were shining brightly in the night sky. But at night? Maybe it'd look like that. His smile only grew as he thought about it. "Sounds like a great plan. I'll go into town and see whats up. Who wants to join me?"

Kano looked over the group with a grin. A trio of hands raised immediately, fellow adventurers! He turned to head off. "Then let's go!" He didn't refer to them by name as he couldn't remember for the life of him who they were.

...

A bit of silence followed the group as Kano's fast entrance and faster sendoff passed. It took a moment but conversation continued, the remainder would be split into three groups. A handful were set to stay with the ship, a protection detail, and somewhat to prepare to leave the ship if necessary. Another group with Kramer in the lead were aiming to go straight to a shipyard to try and obtain a ship. And the last group was hers, they were tasked with supplies. Currently with herself Bubba and Cujo they were a bit of a weird group.

She blinked before glancing over to Scarlette. "Wanna come with us Scarlette?" She asked. Merle was curious to learn more about the one-armed woman. Partially curious what she needed to get to to rid herself of the 'little sibling' title. But mostly curious, she seemed the ideological leader of the group. So she wanted to know, to understand a bit more the woman who led the rest of this ... family.

[Fox]

Quinn shifted uncomfortably on Gobbie’s shoulder as she walked into town. He was wearing a disguise that they had managed to find. A long white sundress disguised his tail. He thanked the Kraken that he was born a cephalopod mermaid and not one with a tail that just couldn’t manage on land. He could at least walk around and, with this dress, pretend to actually have legs by wrapping his tentacles up and moving them all in tandem. It had been pretty awkward to walk that way the first couple of times, but by now, Quinn had gotten used to it. His skin tone was its usual pale green, so for all intents and purposes, he looked more like a Fishman than a merfolk.

Still, that didn’t stop the usual flood of curious and distrustful stares. Quinn ran a hand through his white hair with a hefty sigh and tapped his fingers on his lap anxiously. He hated being the center of attention like this, but there was really nothing to be done about it. While Fishman weren’t unheard of in the Grand Line, that didn’t mean that they were overly common either. Quinn sucked air in between his teeth as Gobbie got a little more into town and tapped her shoulder.

She lifted him up off her shoulder easily and set him down with her usual tenderness. Taking a deep breath, Quinn explained the plan. “Alright. We lost your tools a couple of storms ago, right? We should probably stop by the shipyards to get you some new ones. Do you remember how much they cost?”

Gobbie put a hand to her chin as she thought about it. Knowing it would take her a little while, Quinn pulled out their purse to count how much money they had left. He winced. Ugh, they didn’t have much at all anymore, did they? He wasn’t sure if this would be enough to buy the tools that they needed. Heck, he wasn’t even sure that it would buy them a room to stay for a couple days and hot meals. Quinn sniffled, his dreams of relaxing in a warm bed and bath dashed yet again. Well, maybe they could sell mushrooms again. Though Quinn found the thought of people eating the mushrooms that he made a little disturbing.

When Quinn looked up at Gobbie again, she handed him a piece of paper with the tools and prices that she remembered. His heart sank when he saw it. “And… you need all of these? There aren’t some that you can do without?” Gobbie nodded apologetically and clasped her hands together.

“Sorry, Aniki…”

“No, no, it’s fine… We’ll just have to work for it a little bit. For now, how about we go and grab some food and supplies? We’re going to need some if we’ll be here a while anyway… and it’s less expensive if I cook.” Gobbie brightened up, eyes sparkling at the thought of her brother’s cooking. Quinn didn’t really think that he was all that great at it, but if she enjoyed it that was enough for him. “Which of these do you need to do the bulk of the work, by the way? We can probably afford at least one - if I haggle.”

Gobbie thought about it for a moment and pointed to one of the tools on the list. “Can get the hull and keel done with that!” Quinn looked at it. A saw? Hm, he supposed that would be important for preparing the materials. A saw probably wouldn’t be too expensive either. If he was good about haggling, he could probably get one of the other cheaper items on the list thrown in too.

“Perfect. Well, I don’t know about you, but I’m pretty hungry, so let’s head over to the market first.”

“Yaaaay!” Gobbie clapped her hands and bounced from one foot to the other, causing a little quake. Quinn wobbled on his tentacles unsteadily and put his hands up in a panic.

“C-Calm down already! It’s not like it’s even that good!”

“I love Aniki’s cooking!” Gobbie scooped him up into her huge arms and gave him one of her not so tender hugs. He felt his spine pop a few times as the air was squeezed out of him. Eventually, she set him back down, and it took everything he could do not to just collapse limply on the ground. “R-Right… to the market…”

Quinn hastily turned away and moved off to where he saw the telltale pitch of tents toward the docks. Strangely… round tents. God, this place was just so absurd. With Gobbie trailing along happily behind him, he hurried over to the nearest stall where round vegetables greeted him. He squinted and poked one incredulously. “Is this… edible?”

---

Quinn Bathory | #7fffd4 (Aquamarine)
Gobbie Bathory | #afeeee (Pale Turquoise)

[Vio]

^{Scarlette #3}

---

“Then let’s go!” Kano cheered, and so it was settled. With little in the way of opposition, he was allowed somewhat free rein, quickly making his way off with a handful in tow. Amongst them, the small bundle of energy that was Chucky, as well as a more mature but certainly more cheery and opportunistic Torrance. Scarlette herself merely gave a soft, affirmatory grunt as Myers looked at her, very much getting the sense that he — for all his silence and simplicity — felt at least some sort of need to keep an eye on the fool. Without so much as a reply, he slowly and quietly followed in the fireworks man’s footsteps.

^{“Many. Hands,” Cujo chirped:
“Work. Light.”}

^{“Wanna come with us, Scarlette?”}

“Hm? Ah… Yeah, sure,” the Red Terror replied, still absorbing the visuals of her surroundings. The odd roundness of the environment in and of itself wasn’t particularly disturbing, given what her eyes had witnessed elsewhere on the Grand Line, but something had her at least a little on edge. Maybe it was the notion of splitting up her little family; something in her gut twisted slightly, but she suppressed the feeling with little more than a small, brief grimace. There was no sense in babysitting them, she reminded herself.

“Kramer, Voorhees, and myself will go and investigate the shipyard and see what we can get together,” Bateman announced, receiving something of a nod from the two men in question: “That leaves Lecter, Sweeney, Loomis, Krueger, and Sadako to watch the ship?”

^{“Alright,” Lecter replied:
“That seems fine with me!”}

“Good luck,” Sweeney waved with a smile.

^{—— RONDURE CITY MARKET ——}

No more than a few minutes later and Miss Grimm-Rosa was walking through the busy market streets of the town, surrounded on all sides by people going about their strangely regular life despite their irregular surroundings. It was the golden standard — humans of all shapes and sizes roamed the streets, doing their usual business without so much as a care in the world. Of course, still being bandaged and missing an arm drew more than a few odd gazes and, of the quartet that currently roamed the marketplace in search of the necessities, it was perhaps the more rotund and baby faced Bubba Sawyer that stood out the least.

“W— W— We should make sure we’ve got enough v— vegetables… Oh! And stock up on emergency supplies — jerky, biscuits, hard cheeses,” Sawyer listed, counting options upon his sausage fingers as he stammered his words out. There was no doubt the man took his food seriously. Between him and Merle, the group had been well fed despite limited supplies. Not to say that any of the others were particularly bad cooks, for Big Sis was mostly unaware of their skills beyond the absolute basics, but the dual chefs had made the most of very little.

^{“Round,” Cujo barked:
“Cabbage…?”}

^{“Wh— Wh— What, Cujo?”}

“Hm,” grunted the one-armed woman, noticing the strange trailing of the canine doctor’s bark — an uncharacteristic addition to his usual speech pattern that somehow stood out a mile. Her one eye at first looked at Merle, wondering if she had noticed it too, before following the dog’s own gaze towards a figure that towered above the rest. A woman, built with more rippling muscles than most men, and standing more than twice the Red Terror’s own height at a guess. A woman who seemed to receive something of a wide berth from the commoners, perhaps for good reason, though Scarlette could not see her face.

^{“Sh— Sh— She’s enormous,” Mister Bubba stuttered:
“Oh! L— Look! Those vegetables look nice and fresh!”}

^{—— KANO’S GROUP ——}

“So, Kano,” Torrance began to speak up, a smile on his face as he addressed the blond. “This has been an interesting few days, hasn’t it? Still, we don’t really know too much about each other, so! My name’s Torrance,” he said with a hand offered, a carefree expression upon his face as he looked to the Wild Spark with dark blue eyes. Behind them, Myers strode along, with Ray perched upon the goliath’s shoulder…

---

SPOILER: Click to show

{Cast | Colour Codes}

<sub>The Big Sis Pirates
• Grimm-Rosa Scarlette | #960018 (Carmine)
• Kano Toro | #fefe19 (Yellow)
• Merle Tali | #19e896 (Turquoise)
• Hannibal Lecter [NPC] | #87a96b (Artichoke)
• John Kramer [NPC] | #80461b (Russet)
• Jack Torrance [NPC] | #87d3f8 (Pale Cyan)
• Yamamura Sadako [NPC] | #9370db (Medium Purple)
• Todd Sweeney [NPC] | #c54b8c (Mulberry)
• Michael Myers [NPC] | #1b1b1b (Eerie Black)
• Jason Voorhees [NPC] | #0070bb (Spanish Blue)
• Billy Loomis [NPC] | #696969 (Dim Grey)
• Freddy Krueger [NPC] | #b8860b (Dark Goldenrod)
• Charles Ray [NPC] | #43b3ae (Verdigris)
• Patrick Bateman [NPC] | #dc143c (Crimson)
• Bubba Sawyer [NPC] | #fffacd (Lemon Chiffon)
• Cujo [NPC] | #d2691e (Cocoa Brown)

The Other Group
• Polo [NPC] | #e23d28 (Chili Red)
• Kemari [NPC] | #c71585 (Red-Violet)
• Ulama [NPC] | #317873 (Myrtle Green)
• Joyce [NPC] | #d0f0c0 (Tea Green)
• Ping [NPC] | #fefefa (Baby Powder)
• Pong [NPC] | #36454f (Charcoal)
• Q-Curbita [NPC] | #fdbcb4 (Melon)
• Rugby [NPC] | #893843 (Solid Pink)
• Lacrosse [NPC] | #3ab09e (Keppel)
• Sepak Takraw [NPC] | #6f2da8 (Grape)
• Croquet [NPC] | #eed202 (Safety Yellow)</sub>

[Flame]

Kano #3 / Merle #3

The town sped about him as Kano ran free flowing through it. Vaguely he was aware of some of the crew following him but he didn't care to slow down in the moment as he charged on. It was a short while before he finally slowed down and paused back to a walk. Hoodie down and hair a mess behind him the fool glanced around at the suddenly changed surroundings. Slowing down he glanced about, finding himself in a strange locale of the town.

Or it seemed odd at least, he glanced about as his crewmates caught up to him. He looked at them smiling slightly. "That was fun wasn't it." Kano didn't wait for a response as he turned around and took finer look around. Looking around he found himself in a bit of a rundown section of town. Round buildings looked cracked and rickety about them. The folk about them seemed strange as well. Definitely rounder than what he'd expected to see. He watched one curiously for a moment until one of the crewmates started talking.

Giving him a smile and the offer of a handshake. Kano glanced at the hand for a moment and then grinned taking it back in a firmer than necessary handshake. "Definitely, it's been fun Torrance." He said somewhat dramatically pulling the arm up and down as part of the shake. "So uhh, what're you two's names again?" Kano said turning his head over and looking at the others.

---

Within the marketplace Merle slipped about the supplies group. While she'd planned on talking with Scarlette a bit about things her priorities were foremost on getting what she needed for cooking. Luckily for her a lot of what she used for cooking she sourced straight from the ocean. What her priorities were in the moment was the supplies she lacked after some time cooking for more than a dozen folk.

She strayed slightly never allowing herself to go out of sight of the group but she did stalk over to stalls and look through. Arriving at one vendor she looked about at the jars they had setup. "Hmmm, do you have ..." She began to list off a few spices that she particularly enjoyed using. From behind the stall the seller was nodding his head picking up jars or something from beneath the stall. "Oh and maybe do you have wasabi stems? Dried would be preferable." She added on at the end. The vendor nodded and begun packing up what she'd listed for him.

"Thanks." She said as she was handed a pile of small jars each of their tops bound by a piece of cloth and a rubber band. And then a cloth bag bound at the top by string. Cradling them carefully in one arm she pulled out some of the gil she'd kept in her cooking pack and paid the man. Then slowly dumping her rewards into her pack she began to walk away. Only then did she notice that her race hadn't even been noticed. Merle paused tilting her head and considering it for a moment.

Given her most recent experiences across the board, she found that interaction rather surprising. Merle stopped standing still for a second to think. Golden eyes looked lazily about until she noted the group she'd come with starting to increase the distance from her. "Ahh ..." She reminded herself to stick close to them as she hurried off towards the group while trying to continue to safely carry her pack.

Catching up to them Merle caught the last comment of the roundest of her compatriots. Following the gaze of the stuttering man she found herself looking at a large fishman. Personally she didn't recognize the species, but it was easy to notice someone of her own race. The distinctive shape and unhuman qualities were hard to miss to say the least. Possibly a half, but she suspected unlikely. "Mmmm, rare to see another one of us about." She commented for the moment before turning elsewhere. As far as she was aware there were no underwater towns in this area. Not that she'd seen at the least.

[Fox]

Quinn winced after getting chewed out by an offended vegetable dealer. He held up his hands apologetically and let out a defeated sigh. “Okay, okay! I get it! I’m sorry, alright? Your vegetables look plenty edible. Tasty, even. Okay? So… how much for like… I dunno five of these?” The vegetable vendor twirled his mustache for a second, thinking before taking the sign in front of them and marking up the price. Quinn’s eyebrow twitched with ill suppressed frustration. He took a deep breath and turned away from that stall, looking to Gobbie.

“C’mon, Gobbie. We can find ingredients elsewhere.”

The vegetable vendor smirked, catching Quinn’s eye again and relighting the petty fire in his chest. When Quinn looked back, the vendor turned up his nose and closed his eyes in a very condescending way. Quinn grinned evilly and wiggled his fingers at the produce while the human’s eyes were closed, releasing a bunch of spores onto all of his merchandise. Grabbing Gobbie’s arm, he pulled her away and made a show of being all offended. It only took a second or two for Quinn to hear the vendor’s surprised gasp as mold and mushrooms started sprouting from all of his merchandise. Served him right. He glanced up at Gobbie who was looking at him with guilt inducing eyes that stabbed at his very core.

“Aniki…”

“It’s fine! Really, don’t worry about it. He deserved it anyway.”

“They saw…”

Quinn froze up as Gobbie pointed to a rather interesting looking group of weirdos. Sure enough, some of them were looking right in their direction. Quinn felt beads of nervous sweat form on his brow. Uh-oh. He wanted to snap at Gobbie for not telling him sooner, but honestly it was his fault. He put his hands together and pressed them to his lip as he frantically thought of what to do. Run was the first thing that came to mind, and it was a pretty good option, but it almost definitely cemented their guilt. They still needed to shop for supplies.

Playing dumb it was. A fake smile spread across his face, trying to act casual. He even waved to the group before gently tugging Gobbie along. “Keep moving. Act casual. Just smile and wave,” he muttered under his breath.

Unfortunately for Quinn, acting was not one of Gobbie’s strongest suits despite her ridiculous dreams of being an idol. She smiled wide - a horrific sight with rows and rows of needle sharp teeth - and waved to the group and everyone else around them. It was only made worse by the fact that she was nervous, twisting her face up in ways that only made her seem more threatening. Understandably, the people that had been giving them a wide berth increased in, hastily walking away - almost running but not quite - for fear of her.

Quinn sighed, covering his face with a hand. Today wasn’t really going the way that he hoped it would. Maybe those weirdos over there would be intimidated enough not to say anything at least. Holding her hand, Quinn pulled her along to a different vegetable vendor across the street who looked like he was about to piss himself.

“I’ll take three leeks and… um… a bunch of carrots… cabbage… do you have any onions?”

---

Quinn Bathory | #7FFFD4 (Aquamarine)
Gobbie Bathory | #AFEEEE (Pale Turquoise)

[Vio]

^{Scarlette #4}

---

^{“It’s Ray,” Mister Charles answered:
“You can just call me ‘Chucky’!”}

“Myers,” the tallest of Kano’s accompaniment said quietly, having barely moved at anything greater than a fast walk and yet still managing to keep up. His steady stride seemed to do the trick as they entered a somewhat more rundown segment of town, structures rickety yet still very much round. Myers’ expression did not change, plain and calm as his inky eyes viewed their surroundings — even as Ray scurried from one shoulder to another to make the most of his perch.

“This part of town looks a bit dull, don’t you think?” Torrance asked, continuing to smile as he looked around. Though many people still moved around, the energy was different from that of near the harbour — a little more sullen and solemn. Not enough, however, to bring down their spirits. “Well, I guess it makes a change from being cooped up in some cage,” he added with a jovial huff before looking amongst the group, asking: “So what are your stories? Where are you all from?”

Chucky frowned a little.

^{“West,” Michael Myers replied:
“West Blue…”}

“Same,” followed a sullen addition.

^{—— RONDURE CITY MARKET ——}

^{“Mmmm,” Merle Tali hummed:
“Rare to see another one of us about.”}

“Is it really?” Grimm-Rosa Scarlette asked, finding such a comment rather out of place. That said, any previous encounters with Fishmen had been unusual in their own ways — ways that the Red Terror wasn’t particularly fond of remembering as she clenched a single fist. Phantom sensations gave her a glimpse of what was, even a subtle twinge of something she hadn’t felt in some time — pain. A sharp intake of breath was all that gave away such feelings, but she quickly exhaled and relaxed, shaking her head.

Needle teeth smiled. A large hand waved. Scarlette waved back.

^{“Why don’t we,” she chirped:
“Go and say hello…?”}

“S— S— S— Sure,” Sawyer stammered again, merrily making his way over to the stand by which the grotesque goliath’s guide currently perused. Root vegetables of all sorts sat in small crates, many freshly harvested and washed for sales, all displaying a signature sphericality. Other articles had likely been shipped from overseas, or grown from foreign roots planted in native soil, for they lacked the roundness and exaggerated the cost. “We need to resupply anyway,” he added with a smile.

^{“Merle,” Cujo muttered:
“Have. Seen. Medicine?”}

“H— H— Hello, friends,” Sawyer churned as he approached the stall, casting beady yet cheerful eyes upon the two oddities. Open and yet uncertain, the chubby chef seemed an honest lad with a heart of gold, at least to Scarlette’s eyes. Though at first he had been rather quiet and subdued, he seemed to register that she meant no harm; that he was in good company since being busted out of his cage. Admittedly, his history was still as much of a mystery as she was to him.

^{“Hey,” Scarlette quizzed, approaching:
“Do you have any parsnips…?”}

---

SPOILER: Click to show

{Cast | Colour Codes}

<sub>The Big Sis Pirates
• Grimm-Rosa Scarlette | #960018 (Carmine)
• Kano Toro | #fefe19 (Yellow)
• Merle Tali | #19e896 (Turquoise)
• Hannibal Lecter [NPC] | #87a96b (Artichoke)
• John Kramer [NPC] | #80461b (Russet)
• Jack Torrance [NPC] | #87d3f8 (Pale Cyan)
• Yamamura Sadako [NPC] | #9370db (Medium Purple)
• Todd Sweeney [NPC] | #c54b8c (Mulberry)
• Michael Myers [NPC] | #1b1b1b (Eerie Black)
• Jason Voorhees [NPC] | #0070bb (Spanish Blue)
• Billy Loomis [NPC] | #696969 (Dim Grey)
• Freddy Krueger [NPC] | #b8860b (Dark Goldenrod)
• Charles Ray [NPC] | #43b3ae (Verdigris)
• Patrick Bateman [NPC] | #dc143c (Crimson)
• Bubba Sawyer [NPC] | #fffacd (Lemon Chiffon)
• Cujo [NPC] | #d2691e (Cocoa Brown)

The Other Group
• Polo [NPC] | #e23d28 (Chili Red)
• Kemari [NPC] | #c71585 (Red-Violet)
• Ulama [NPC] | #317873 (Myrtle Green)
• Joyce [NPC] | #d0f0c0 (Tea Green)
• Ping [NPC] | #fefefa (Baby Powder)
• Pong [NPC] | #36454f (Charcoal)
• Q-Curbita [NPC] | #fdbcb4 (Melon)
• Rugby [NPC] | #893843 (Solid Pink)
• Lacrosse [NPC] | #3ab09e (Keppel)
• Sepak Takraw [NPC] | #6f2da8 (Grape)
• Croquet [NPC] | #eed202 (Safety Yellow)</sub>

[Flame]

Kano #4 / Merle #4

"Chucky ... and Myers ..." Kano said looking from one to the other. His head nodded up and down. He smiled back at the two, giving the pair a thumbs up. "I'll remember them. No worries." The fool laughed and looked about again at their rundown surroundings. His eyes flickered about looking at the folk who walked about the area, they lacked energy. He tilted his head, why was that? Then something caught his eyes as he looked farther forward. Down the road he noticed a clump of them walking up the road. The distance was too far to see anything in any detail, besides he wasn't interested.

When Jack spoke up Kano turned and then shrugged his shoulder. "Mmm, it's ragged and rundown. Dull?" He paused scratching his chin for a moment. "Maybe, I think it just needs some. Fire" Kano said with a final grin as he looked back at the man a crazed glint flashing through his eyes. It disappeared as fast as it appeared, replaced by an infectious laughter as Kano smiled. He nodded in agreement to the statement about the cooped up cage.

The fool's eyes turned to the pair of Chuck and Myle- no Myurs. As their response went a little down in tone. An eyebrow raised before shrugging the worries away. "North Blue born, South Blue raised." Kano said with a smile. How long had it been he wondered, it definitely did not feel so long. He remembered forward, his life flashing before his eyes. A glass shop, a burning mansion, the crate, a bird lady, ... Oliver. His smile faltered slightly, the sparkle in his eye deadening slightly. His eyes closed for a second.

And he took a breath, the fools eyes opened once more. They were not so perky but they were less hollow than moments ago. Kano looked towards the one who'd asked the question.

"And you Jack? Where are you from?"

---

Scarlette's response surprised her. It seemed such common knowledge to Merle who'd lived as a fishman all her life. She knew how life was, she'd experienced it first-. The fishwoman stopped herself before she allowed the thoughts to go any further. Such thoughts would only bring back memories, long held resentments, and the like. She shook her head and gave a smile. "In general, humans don't take too well to us." She said in response shrugging. It was the way the world worked at least as Merle saw it.

"We have our own towns beneath the waves anyways." She said as a last comment. Her attention turned elsewhere. All that being said, there were some things that could really only be obtained on the surface. Hefting her bag she looked about as Scarlette moved on the fishman they'd been talking about moments ago. "Ahh ..." She thought to stop the woman for a moment but didn't. Merle chuckled to herself as Cujo called her attention.

"Medicine? Hmm ..." She scratched her chin for a moment trying to remember the stalls she'd passed by. "I got some stuff for salves that I make ..." Pausing again she tapped the side of her temple. "But other than that, I don't think I've seen any of the herbal remedies I know of or anything more potent. At least thus far ..." She said trailing off, she had not really been looking for such things as she'd perused the options. "I'll keep an eye out though." Continuing forward with Cujo the pair caught up to Sawyer and Scarlette as they came up to the fishman and his friend.

[Fox]

NOOOOOOOooooooooOOOOoooOOooOOOOOoooo!

Quinn kept his face still as he screamed internally. The bunch of weirdos were headed over his way! That was just… the very last thing that he had wanted. Surely, they were going to out him for molding over that guy’s produce, and then he and Gobbie would have to book it, and he really didn’t want a repeat of that time on Twilight Island. Beads of cold sweat broke out across his forehead as he tried very much to appear calm. The roaring of blood in his ears drowned out most other sounds. He felt his skin begin to itch as it produced spores as he tried his best to internalize his anxiety.

Meanwhile, Gobbie, for her part, turned to Sawyer as he approached, switching out her nervous smile for a more genuine one. “Hi…!” Gobbie replied happily, oblivious to her brother’s panic attack. It was rare that people approached her for anything! They always looked so scared for some reason, but Gobbie loved the attention and helping out. So, when the black haired lady asked for parsnips, she hastily glanced around and snatched some up from the vendor, holding them out eagerly to her in one hand.

“H-Here! I found them!”

Gobbie also spotted the onions that her brother had been looking for out of the corner of her eye, and so reached over for them and held them out in front of her brother. When he didn’t react, Gobbie nudged him. She didn’t want him to seem rude to these nice people! Idols always had to leave a good impression, but she also wanted them to like her big brother too! He never had many friends back home.

Being nudged by Gobbie managed to shake Quinn out of his stupor, a light dusting of spores sprinkling off of him. He jolted a little, turning mechanically to process what exactly was happening in front of him. His deep feeling of horror and dread only deepened when he realized that Gobbie was actually trying to talk to them. His eyes drifted from the terrifying scarred lady with black hair to an actually surprising sight. Another fishman. That was uncommon to see. Wonder what she was doing with a human? Gobbie nudged him again, but he just barely registered it.

“Say hi, Aniki! Don’t be rude.”

“Hello,” Quinn replied mechanically in a dull monotone, “I’m Quinn Bathory and this is my little sister, Gobbie. Nice to meet you all. I see you enjoy parsnips. I also enjoy parsnips.”

“Aniki, why are you acting funny?” Gobbie frowned down at her big brother, a little confused by his mechanical tone. He could at least try to sound nicer. He was never gonna get more friends that way!

“I don’t know what you mean.” Quinn snapped back, still monotone, but his voice was laced with the underlying strain that he was feeling deep down.

---

Quinn Bathory | #7FFFD4 (Aquamarine) | Post Count: 4
Gobbie Bathory | #AFEEEE (Pale Turquoise)

[Vio]

^{Scarlette #5}

---

The words that escaped Merle’s lips were strange, laced with a distanced tone that prodded at Grimm-Rosa Scarlette’s psyche despite being spoken through a smile. She could understand it in some way, even if she could not experience what it was to be Gyojin. She went to speak, but decided against it, better focused on approaching the other oddities of the world. Getting a heart to heart with the Fishwoman could wait for now, allowing her the time to compile her thoughts on the matter.

^{“Herbal. Traditional,” Cujo muttered, ears twitching:
“Pharmacy. We. Find. Antibiotics. Sedatives.”}

“Oh… Thanks,” Scarlette replied, offered the objects of her desire by one of the two attending the stall. Maybe it was due to her Devil Fruit, or perhaps the fact that she’d lost an arm recently, but her craving for sweetened foods was perhaps a bit higher than normal. Indeed, her lips curled slightly in dissatisfaction when the phantom limb failed her — she couldn’t hold a bag and put the veggies in at the same time!

^{“Hey, Sawyer,” the Red Terror asked:
“Could you hold this open for me?”}

^{“Huh? S— S— Sure?”}

“Are you sure these are parsnips?” she asked, casting a chocolate iris to the actual vendor, who seemed rather unnerved by variable presences that had congregated beside his stall. Sure enough, one by one, she’d loaded them into the bag, find them rather round. And yet, before the vendor could get a word in, she took a bite out of the last root vegetable as if it were a fresh apple. “Mm… Yah… Fefimifely farsmif,” Scarlette spoke through a small mouthful of sweetness.

^{“B— B— Big Sis,” Mister Bubba stammered:
“Aren’t you supposed to cook them first?”}

^{“Mm? ‘Ey cam fe eafem waw.”}

“I hope you’re paying for those,” the vendor murmured, back straightening slightly as Scarlette’s eyes shifted back to him. She swallowed the mouthful of vegetable, nodded, and then promptly turned her focus back to the stranger fellow who had finally — by virtue of his apparent blood relative — introduced himself. Quinn and Gobbie, both of the Bathory name, though one seemed a lot more energetic than the other.

^{“Relax,” Miss Grimm-Rosa said, smiling:
“Gobbie. You might wanna wash your hands…”}

“Oh! Y— Y— Yeah! P— Parsnip leaves can make your skin rash and blister in the sunlight,” babbled Bubba, exchanging coinage with the stall’s increasingly less comfortable looking minder. “H— How do you know that, Big Sis?” he asked, raising a small brow.

“Just something I remember from back home,” the one-armed woman shrugged, looking over Quinn more so than Gobbie at this point. His words monotonous, his look nervous, it was clear that he wasn’t too fond of being spoken to. Hardly a fitting quality for a ‘Big Brother’ figure — his younger sibling seemed more open of heart and mind than he. With a tilt of her head, then a gentle nudge from Sawyer that reminded her of something, she spoke again: “I’m Scarlette… this is Sawyer… that’s Merle and Cujo…”

^{“Hello.”
“Pl— Pl— Pleased to meet you!”}

^{—— KANO’S GROUP, RONDURE SLUMS ——}

Any fear that might have come from Kano’s mention of the word ‘Fire’ had been completely disregarded by Torrance as he too laughed with the Wild Spark. Not a man to be kept down, that was for certain, though the more sullen expressions of Myers and Chucky were duly noted. Much as Jack enjoyed a good story, he wasn’t about to pry into that which upset them or drew out less fond memories. The same could be said of him when he observed Kano’s brief but similarly distant reaction, but what caught his attention more was the comment on heritage.

“North and South? That’s quite the leap,” he chittered. “As for me, I’m from a place called Bravo Bravissimo, also on the Grand Line,” Torrance explained as they continued their walk. “Pretty nice place, though I’m not too fond of heading back there any time soon! I guess being kidnapped did have its merits; I wouldn’t have met you guys! Oh—!” Torrance startled, bumping into somebody.

“Oi, watch it,” the figure replied, turning. A hulking man of near enough eight feet, dressed in a red and white banded sports jersey with blue collar and shorts. Mostly muscle, his shoulders were almost as broad as he was tall — though that may have been more a trick of perspective. Compared to Myers, he was still quite small, but the shape of his head was rather unique. A strangely ovular cranium with pointed chin, flat features, and a bald skull that ended in a point not too different to his chin.

^{“Oops,” Torrance waved:
“My bad! Sorry about that!”}

---

SPOILER: Click to show

{Post Synopsis}
_{• Cujo mentions to Merle that they should try and find a pharmacy for more elaborate medical supplies.
• Scarlette munches on one of Rondure’s parsnips.
• Scarlette tells Quinn to relax and shows some concern for Gobbie.
• Scarlette introduces herself, Merle, Sawyer and Cujo.
• Torrance reveals he’s from Bravo Bravissimo.
• Torrance bumps into Rugby, but apologises.}

---

SPOILER: Click to show

{Cast | Colour Codes}

<sub>The Big Sis Pirates
• Grimm-Rosa Scarlette | #960018 (Carmine)
• Kano Toro | #fefe19 (Yellow)
• Merle Tali | #19e896 (Turquoise)
• Hannibal Lecter [NPC] | #87a96b (Artichoke)
• John Kramer [NPC] | #80461b (Russet)
• Jack Torrance [NPC] | #87d3f8 (Pale Cyan)
• Yamamura Sadako [NPC] | #9370db (Medium Purple)
• Todd Sweeney [NPC] | #c54b8c (Mulberry)
• Michael Myers [NPC] | #1b1b1b (Eerie Black)
• Jason Voorhees [NPC] | #0070bb (Spanish Blue)
• Billy Loomis [NPC] | #696969 (Dim Grey)
• Freddy Krueger [NPC] | #b8860b (Dark Goldenrod)
• Charles Ray [NPC] | #43b3ae (Verdigris)
• Patrick Bateman [NPC] | #dc143c (Crimson)
• Bubba Sawyer [NPC] | #fffacd (Lemon Chiffon)
• Cujo [NPC] | #d2691e (Cocoa Brown)

The Other Group
• Polo [NPC] | #e23d28 (Chili Red)
• Kemari [NPC] | #c71585 (Red-Violet)
• Ulama [NPC] | #317873 (Myrtle Green)
• Joyce [NPC] | #d0f0c0 (Tea Green)
• Ping [NPC] | #fefefa (Baby Powder)
• Pong [NPC] | #36454f (Charcoal)
• Q-Curbita [NPC] | #fdbcb4 (Melon)
• Rugby [NPC] | #893843 (Solid Pink)
• Lacrosse [NPC] | #3ab09e (Keppel)
• Sepak Takraw [NPC] | #6f2da8 (Grape)
• Croquet [NPC] | #eed202 (Safety Yellow)

Unaffiliated Cast
• Quinn Bathory | #7fffd4 (Aquamarine)
• Gobbie Bathory | #afeeee (Pale Turquoise)
• Vendors | #cccccc (Pale Grey)</sub>

[Flame]

Kano #5 / Merle #5

Kano grinned "I've made that leap more than once." He said humming along as he continued to walk forward. Half a step in that comment ended up reminding him of something. Turning on the axis of his heel he raised a finger. "I don't recommend making the journey in a crate. Its uncomfortable and you end up smelling a lot like pee." If maybe for a millisecond a bit of hollow fear flickered through the fool's eyes before it was replaced with their usual no-care emptiness. Turning back forward Kano continued on.

"Bravo Bravissimo, huh ..." The fool echoed the name of Jack's home island as Jack continued on. The name rang a bell to him, memories of a play, a dress, a kiss, they felt as if they'd been from a feverdream. Something about a traincar, Kano blinked thrice confused where these memories came from. A dream no doubt, this was his first time in the Grand Line and he'd never been to an island called Bravo Bravissimo. At least as far as he remembered.

Behind him a thud, the soft sound of two bodies bumping into each other. Kano turned about once again surprised to see Jack had bumped into a monstrosity. Placing a hand above his eye Kano's head tilted upwards until he found the cueball head of the man who'd walked into Jack, two feet above where he'd expected it to be. Kano whistled, the man was huge, at least in comparison to himself. Definitely not the largest one he'd seen even just here. But it was still impressive to see for a lanky fool like Kano.

"Wow, how'd you manage that Jack. He stands out like a sore thumb. Literally!" Kano said grinning before falling into cackling laughter. It was just as he said that as a shadow hung over the Wild Spark. Knuckles cracked from behind his head and Kano glanced up to see the light glinting off the cueball head. Another shout of laughter bursted from the fool who continued to grin.

"Do we have a problem sticks?"

---

Merle had stood there for a moment glancing at the two they'd come over to greet. But quickly growing bored of it she'd began to peruse the stall. At the moment she was pretty content with what she'd obtained. Most of her cooking used fresh materials that she could scavenge while at sea, and she was certain if there was soemthing she needed, Bubba would also be buying that. So for her she was mostly looking for something unique, an ingredient she hadn't worked with before.

It was always a fun test to try using an ingredient she'd never seen before. Her tongue clicked against her teeth as she leaned over the produce. There was nothing that she was seeing that she didn't already know fairly well. Hearing her name be called Merle glanced up. It seemed that she'd been introduced. Smiling she waved a misty blue hand at the pair, Gobbie and Quincy if she'd heard correctly. "Hiya, Merle Tali at your service." She said giving an overly serious bow that dipped her head down towards them.

She came up failing to hold back laughter that was escaping in bits from between her lips. "Are you two also from Ryugu? Or somewhere more remote?" Merle asked with some curiosity. She knew there were other homes, though most of her kind were from the kingdom. "It's rare to see more of us, so far from the kingdom." She commented.

[Fox]

Well, that interaction seemed to have gone without a terrible and incredible incident. Maybe Quinn could relax. Slightly. He never let his guard down when they were out and about like this, but it was probably okay not to be jumping at every shadow… at least with this particular group of weirdos. They even had another fishman among them, so at the very least, they weren’t going to cart them off in chains or anything. While Gobbie smiled to herself, proud for helping the weirdos out or something, Quinn idly listened in to their conversations. Seemed like they were… looking for medicine and food? Well, the black haired woman - who Quinn could only assume was their leader - did seem to be missing an arm. Maybe it was for her.

He looked on as she struggled a little with the bag, trying out the parsnip herself. Quinn cringed at that. Yeugh. Sure, fresh vegetables were nice, but there were still some that he would never want to eat raw. However, when she turned to look at him, he could feel himself bristling with stress and anxiety. Telling him to relax didn’t help matters either. But, she gave a helpful tip to Gobbie, whose eyes widened in surprise. He sighed and shook his head at her. She was such a dummy. She bounced from one foot to the other, holding her hands away from her like they were on fire or something.

“A-Aniki…!”

With a sigh and a tired smile, Quinn waved dismissively at Gobbie.

“Go on. I’ll wait here. Go get yourself washed up.”

Beaming a smile at him, Gobbie ran off in… a direction. He wasn’t sure if she knew where she was going. It kind of looked like she was wandering off in the direction of the docks. He looked back at the group as they introduced themselves and actually managed something resembling a genuine smile.

“Um, yeah, actually. We’re from the kingdom. Fishman District. Gobbie used to work there as a shipwright and I… worked near the Mermaid Cove. I did make-up and that kind of thing. We probably wouldn’t have left, but… I… agh…”

Quinn figured it was probably better to demonstrate, so he held out his palm. White spores accumulated in the center until a big spotted red capped mushroom sprouted right in the center of his palm.

“I ate a Devil Fruit… and now we’re trying to figure out how to get rid of it. The doctors back at Ryugu didn’t have a clue.”

He had the sneaking suspicion that he was oversharing, but with another fishman around, he felt a tad more relaxed. Closing his hand around the mushroom, he winced as he yanked it off of his palm. That never felt really good. He tossed it on the ground carelessly and looked back to the group.

“So what about you? And, I guess, the rest of you too. What are you up to in Rondure? You don’t exactly look like natives yourselves.”

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Quinn Bathory | #7FFFD4 (Aquamarine) | Post Count: 5
Gobbie Bathory | #AFEEEE (Pale Turquoise)