Dreams Start Today! Bad Luck Brings Friendship!

[Kami-Gaz]

It was a good thing that Annika had not seen Simon commit his heresy of the highest order using the soft silk of the gods. No she wouldn’t see it she was too busy making her way up the ladder to the secret door. Why did the captain have one of these? Was it a secret escape route that he could use? Or was it so he could sneak down and inspect the goods he was transporting? As she made her ascent the police officer caught her arm, getting her to listen.

Oh… now that did not sound good at all. Were they going to celebrate? Blow the boat up or both? Maybe they found a booze stash in the kitchen and were moving to get it ready to be taken away. That was the best thing that they could have to look forward to… There was one thing that didn’t make sense, they had not come to inspect the loot from down here in the cargo hold yet… so why would they blow the boat up now and not take the swords, guns and amazing silks?

As the boots walked away, she looked at Simon. “We need a good place to hide after getting it! Or maybe we can steal a life boat and float away?” She asked as she quietly ascended again, getting to the trap door.

Moments passed as she made sure the captain’s cabin was completely empty and Simon was busy in his searching before the young woman even placed her hands to the door. She slowly pushed the escape route open at a snail’s pace. At first there was a crack of light that let her see a small area… it was empty, good. She continued her crusade to get this door open slowly, this made the heat death of the universe look fast. Then there was a soft thunk of wood hitting wood. “Carp…” She said, not wanting to swear in full frustration. There was no way she was going to get through to the fruit this way, not without making any sort of noise that would bring attention to her.

The trapdoor got lowered almost as slow as she pushed it open. “Not good up here…” Annika hissed quietly, not liking the situation. The door closed and the young woman slid down the ladder in a huff before heading to see what Simon was working on… Then it happened, the cargo elevator doors opened to the main deck, flooding the entire hold with light.

“Hide! Hide!” Annika hissed quietly, looking for a new spot to be in… her silk crate was in sight, if a little close to the cargo elevator.

---

Post 16            
Annika: acd1fc 

Captain Bell: 86810a

Dirty Shirt Guy: bebebe

Yeeeeeeaaaaaaah Guy:   efff9b

Random Dude:      ffffff

Frank:   a55eff

Kal:  e2e619

[Bobbie]

Simon put what he was doing on hold when he heard her address him and he turned to look at her. He inhaled deeply as he thought about her proposition. “I’m hoping that there’s a way to a life boat or something similar from here. If that thing is connected to the captain’s cabin, then it would make sense to have some other form of escape, wouldn’t it?” he asked, after he explained his rationale in a whisper.

His real wish was to forget the devil fruit, of course, but he feared that his head would no longer be attached to his shoulders if even suggested that. He went back to his search, but seemed to be having no luck – by the sound of it, neither was she. “Just be careful.” He called out in a hushed tone. The last thing they needed was to get caught after… well, being unintentionally captured.

He seemed to let out a huff in synchrony with the girl as he gave up on his own endeavour at the exam same moment. He looked at her as she approached, “Yeah, there’s nothing- “ he started, before his words were proved wrong in an instant. A cargo elevator! Of course!

As the doors opened, the storage hold was filled with light, and the officer frantically looked around for a spot to hide – their wonderful crate of gorgeous silk wasn’t safe anymore, it was awfully close and getting inside it would probably result in them being seen.

“Come here.” He whispered to her and gently pulled her by her arm to squeeze in between two crates. “Stay low, there’s enough crawl space behind the crates.” He continued to pull her until their bodies would fit snugly between the crates and the ship wall. It was a tight fit and a little bit awkward, but it felt like their best shot at the time. That is, unless the boat rocked violently, which Simon hoped it wouldn’t, because if it did … well, police pancake and fashionista waffle would be added to their inventory of party foods.

One pirate stepped out of the elevator and almost immediately spoke in a voice that Simon recognised. “Eugh, what’s that awful smell!?” he exclaimed, the elevator being close to Simon’s puke corner – but, it was somewhat well-hidden… or perhaps it simply looked like spilled goods. It was the same pirate from the captain's cabin just moments before, who spoke in a broken language. He now began to walk down the storage area, opening the first crate and laughed, “Oh boy, the cap’n gon’be ‘appy with this one!” he let the lid slam closed, then went to the next one, frowning when the wood only creaked at his attempt to pry the top off, unsuccessfully. “Eh, I be comin’ back an’will be tryin’you again!” he grumbled, before the next crate was up – “SILK! ALABOISTA!” he had the pronunciation messed up, but the excitement was fairly appropriate.

Simon listened to the pirate, silently counting the crates – the first one must have held the swords or the pistols. He could quite remember what order they were in, but they were hidden behind the fifth crate on the left, the second to the last in its row. A frown growing on his face as he listened, the officer also seemed a little distracted by something tickling his leg. He frequently shifted his weight to try soothe the itch at his ankle, but didn’t bother to look down.

With the next sound, he realised what was causing the tickling sensation. A soft little squeak made his heart race and his gaze darted down just in time to see a little mouse nibbling on the bullet-hole in his trousers, and then disappear beneath the fabric as it wriggled its way into his trouser leg.

Simon’s shudder had the potential to make the entire ship shake and his entire body jolted in horror, desperately trying to kick the little fur-ball out. There wasn’t much room between the crate and the wall, so each movement caused a thump against the wood.

This was bad. Simon was in full panic mode and about to give away their location.

His eyes wide, he opened his mouth to scream.

---

Pirate: #54565

Simon: #d2ce2f

[Kami-Gaz]

Annika was pulled by the arm into the small space behind and between some of the crates as the smugglers rival gang entered the hold through the bright hole in the ceiling. This was just getting stupid now, all Annika wanted was to make her dream come true! Why did all of this have to happen when it should have just been an easy day. Her face turned from an annoyed frown to a really upset look as her thoughts went in that direction. “I’m getting sick of hiding in cramped spaces Mr Simon.” She hissed in a quiet whisper, clearly annoyed and upset at all of this fiasco.

As she finished her hissing the voices could be heard, the first one was exclaiming the bad smell Simon had created with his stomach evacuation earlier. The second, Kal, had a fun retort. “Dunno laddie, have ye showered lately?” His reply came with a hearty chuckle before his boots hit the floor. He moved past to start looking some of the crates as well, picking up Annika’s discarded crowbar. “Tis Alabastion Silk ya lummox, ge’ it right.” He grumbled before cracking open yet another crate to peer inside.

Annika noticed the movement of Simon and the scuffling in his pants… was that a RAT?! With eyes bulging out of her skull she did her best to shuffle around too. She was smaller so it gave her a better ability to move in this cramped space where Simon suffered. “Shh.” She said as her hand reached up and covered his mouth. Her hand was small and didn’t cover the entire thing but it would have to do. Her sad frown turned into a stone face of determination as her foot raised up. This was going to be a delicate operation, one that required the utmost care and attention, lest this man be kicked in the privates by accident.

Gingerly her foot pressed just above the rat, against the inner thigh. Her designer trainer shoes then slowly slid down making the rat slide back down the trouser leg. This was going well! Her foot was doing work, coaxing the animal down the leg further and further. One hand was on the Policeman’s mouth and the other pressed against the crate for balance.

The entire time this was happening Kal and his associate were peering in crates and counting what loot there was. “Ey, come look yer eyes on this!” The clipped tongue noted as he got to the crate near to the pair. “This lookin’ ‘ike one ov dem der sea mines! Boss man’ll love this! A big boomer!” He said as the crate lid got slammed back down and he jogged away to go and report this finding. Great, they were standing next to a big bomb, just what the pair needed to make their hearts stop racing.

As the lid slammed the rat dug its little claws into Simon’s leg, making Annika’s foot hit it on the head and slide it down the skin. That was going to be painful! With a grimace she hit it again and made it slide out of the leg where it let go and scurried away back to where it came from. Her hand was pressed right against the Policeman’s mouth with force even she didn’t think she could muster. That was a real close one!

Then the light vanished, back to the dimness they had before. The voices were gone, muffled by the wood above. It sounded like they had left them for now at least. “Are you okay Mr Simon?” She asked as the boat lurched, making her fall out of their hiding spot and onto her butt. “Owie…” Annika grumbled, looking up to the man she had just saved from a very bad time with a Rat.

Outside the ship had pulled into a cove that was nestled under an old abandoned Water7 Building. A perfect spot for a gang of thieves. The boat had started to get moored at their port and there were sounds of celebrating pirates all milling about on the deck and doing what was needed to secure the ship.

---

Post 17            
Annika:   acd1fc

Captain Bell:  86810a

Dirty Shirt Guy:  bebebe

Yeeeeeeaaaaaaah Guy:    efff9b

Random Dude:      ffffff

Frank:   a55eff

Kal:  e2e619

[Bobbie]

“Alaboistan silk, is what I said!” the other smuggler retorted with pure frustration as he got it wrong again, but decided it was close enough and waved a dismissive hand. “Whatever. Silk is silk. Potato, potahto,” despite thinking that made him sound smart, it actually only made him sound all the dumber.

Simon’s head was lowered, his gaze fixed on the movement that started at the bottom of his trouser leg but was moving uncomfortably higher underneath the fabric with each passing moment. He clenched his jaw in an attempt to keep himself from letting out a fiendish yell as Annika’s little hand was pressed over his mouth to keep him silenced. He looked at her with a soft whimper into her palm, his breath clearly shaking, then he looked down again at the operation, his eyes wider than ever.

Wedged between the crate and the wall, the officer had very little space to move, and had one hand securely gripping the edge of the crate to stop his entire body from collapsing from the sheer fright of what was happening. Remaining perfectly still with enough of a gap between his trembling legs for Annika to keep doing what she doing, he finally relented and closed his eyes – he simply couldn’t look anymore as his whimpers began to sound more like sobs into the girl’s hand which could have easily been understood as three simple syllables, get it out.

Tobias, Kal’s accompanying smuggler down in the hold, quickly darted over to the crate Kal was by. “What is it?” he asked before he could peer in and his face lit up as if they had stumbled upon pure gold. Grinning in excitement, he patted Kal’s chest with a chuckle, “We hit the mother-bomb!” he laughed more openly now, and hopped right after his partner, eager to earn some kind of reward for discovering what was already on the ship through no efforts of his own.

Simon’s eye, even in its closed position, visibly twitched as a diamond of a tear appeared in its corner. Why did they have to slam the crate lid? He could feel the tiny little claws first piercing his skin and then scrape down along the poor man’s leg. The sounds that came out of Simon’s mouth, through his teeth and the cracks between Annika’s fingers were sounds that should never come from a man’s mouth, a mixture of tortured groans, stifled squeals and sobs. He didn’t dare entertain the thought of any diseases for more than a second as his body was tense and rigid, like a statue. The second his mouth was uncovered, he his gasp was cut short by the sudden movement of the ship and he fell onto the wall of the boat, his legs finally giving way as his muscles ached and his skin stung horribly.

“No…” he lay there, entirely deflated and with a look of defeated and utter despair in his eyes. “Thank you for getting that monster out.” His voice shook and he spoke in a monotone voice as he lay there like a puppet whose strings had been cut and collapsed or, more accurately, a man whose very life had been sucked out of him by a monstrous beast with sharp claws.

The stinging in his calf brought him out of the stupor and he crawled on all fours toward her and then right over her to make his way out of their hiding spot as well and into open space. He didn’t know how much time they had to get some air from that cramped space, but it wasn’t enough of a concern to stop him from rolling onto his back and laying there, spread out like a starfish as he stared at the wooden beams above them. A drop of blood dripped down his ankle.

“I feel dirty.” He shuddered, traumatised.

---

Pirate: #548565

Simon: #d2ce2f

[Kami-Gaz]

The young woman fell back to lie on the floor from her sitting position just as the tired and nearly broken Simon had come to join her on the floor and just rest after all of the stress. This entire fiasco was nowhere near over, they still had to get the fruit and escape, then get rescued if they were not lucky. With her back on the deck, she listened up above to hear the commotion dying down and the voices growing more subtle as the entire crew went to celebrate away in the main part of their base. A small time passed after Simons last statement, a time that Annika used to think.

Without saying a word, she got up, walked over to the silk crate and after a moment of fiddling came back with a few bolts of silk. The young woman sat by the policeman and rolled up his pant leg to look at the shin. “We can have a bath when we get home, my daddy will let you use our private Spa if you want.” She said as with a quick movement she used one bolt of the fabric to wipe the wound and then another to wrap and bind his leg in the most comfortable bandage to ever exist. “How does that sound? A personal Spa? Steam room and massages?” A small smile came to her face, uncharacteristic and unnatural on her usually frozen face.

Once she finished, she shuffled and wrapped her shorter arms around the man as best she could. “Thank you, if you weren’t here, I would have been caught by now. You are a good policeman.” She said before letting go and sitting back to let out a big sigh. Was that music she could hear in the distance? Wow this was the best time to relax, and plan.

“We can do something now and actually plan? It sounds like they are partying now.” Annika said softly, her head tilting to get her ear closer to the sounds. What was their best course of action? They needed to find a way out, find the fruit… and what else? A distraction?

---

Post 18            
Annika:   acd1fc

Captain Bell:  86810a

Dirty Shirt Guy:  bebebe

Yeeeeeeaaaaaaah Guy:    efff9b

Random Dude:      ffffff

Frank:   a55eff

Kal:  e2e619

[Bobbie]

Simon stared at the wooden boards, listening to the commotion dying down as it slowly seemed to drift away. For a moment everything just felt so surreal. It was like he was drifting out of his body, his senses slowly becoming dimmer and dimmer until he could no longer hear the heavy thuds that previously thumped onto the deck above them. Am I dying?

His overly dramatic thoughts were washed away as he suddenly felt his trouser leg being rolled up to his knee. He frowned in confusion for a moment, processing what was going on now as the cool air hit his wounds, then he finally propped himself up, first on one elbow and then the other, his head bobbing slightly as if it was too heavy for his neck to support. His gaze fixed on Annika.

“Ah, you don’t have to…” he instantly felt guilty for just lying there like a deflated balloon instead of doing precisely what this girl had the wits to do.

His face then lit up with glee – a private spa!? Gosh, that sounded amazing right now, but he’d be lying if he said he didn’t feel a little embarrassed to accept an offer like that. For one thing, he didn’t frequent spas very often. In fact, he had never actually been to a proper one. Secondly, did he really do enough to deserve such special treatment from such a powerful man?

“That sounds like perfection.” Came out of his mouth with a happy grin before he could stop it, and then it happened - The blue-haired girl before him, his own personal nurse for the time being, gave him such a genuine smile that his heart melted. It was so small, but it was so honest and so clearly a rare expression to grace the girl’s face! Yet Simon got to see it, which he could only presume he’d be one of the very few given such a wonderful gift in life.

It all happened so fast as she wrapped her little arms around him – he shifted his weight onto one elbow and tried to wrap his freed arm around her, but could really only manage to get a soft pat on her back with a gentle chuckle escaping his throat before she’d pull away again to sit back.

‘you are a good policeman’

Her words rang in his ears for a moment longer, his face filled with absolute delight, though the truth was that he could only be such a good policeman because of her. It was Annika and people just like her who made it all worth it, and nothing in the world could ever trump the warm and fuzzy feelings her tiniest of smiles could bring him. Simon wanted to put all of that into words, but where could he start? Before he knew it, it felt like the moment had passed.

He sat up properly with a soft sigh, his smile still lingering and lightly patted his trouser leg down on the silk bandages. “Oh, that’s nice… that alaboista silk.” He laughed as he tried his best impression of one of the last two pirates to come down here.

Sobering up, he nodded and crossed his legs, letting his elbows rest on his folded knees. “Yes, let’s actually have a plan this time, I don’t like all this improv-business.” He said, rather ironically considering everything about this entire trip was improvisation. At this point, just as she mentioned the crew up above, he realised that his senses weren’t deceiving him earlier on. The group of pirates actually were moving away, and it seemed that, just as she said, they wandered off to throw quite a celebration. But if they were able to move off the deck, then …

“We’re on land!” he reached over to grab her shoulders in excitement. “Well almost… they are... we’re at a port, for sure! Okay.” He let go of her and stood up as he began to pace. “First, we need to get into the captain’s cabin and have a look around for your fruit. If we can’t get in through here, that means going up and around.” He gestured toward the closed trapdoor. “I guess they sound pretty busy, but we'll be sneaky about it... but what then? There’s bound to be a pretty heavy crowd somewhere up there, so we won’t be able to just walk past them all at the dock unnoticed…” He then looked around at the supplies in the storage hold they were in. “I wonder if there’s anything here that we can use to disguise us to make us blend in…” he walked over to the crate that had the firearms in it, peering inside – nope, not what he needed. He checked another two crates until he found the one filled with fireworks. Holding the crate lid up above his head, as if a golden light poured out of the box to grant some kind of epiphany, he stood there and stared inside it in awe for a few silent seconds. If they couldn't make themselves unnoticeable, then they'll just have to make something else more noticeable than them instead.

He closed the crate carefully and spun on his heel to look at her, a devious grin on his face. “Have you ever been to the Fireworks Festival?”

---

Simon: #d2ce2f

[Kami-Gaz]

Having Simon smile again was amazing, he did not look right without a smile on his face. It felt just as good to get the loose hug he had given her in return. If it weren’t for the situation that they were in the pair would never have had met, never bonded in the way they are. Annika wouldn’t have found someone she could see as an older brother. She had Fonzie of course but he was her fathers head of protection and just a goof, he had never had to survive something this whacky with her. However, if he was here this would all have been sorted by now.

“I think you mean ‘Alabastion Silk ya lummox!” The young woman spoke affectionately as she stood up in the dark cargo hold, her small genuine smile shining through the dim light that was present. With a giggle she listened to the man’s ramblings, his deductions and step taking. Following him as he moved to the weapons crate that was the original point of contention. Then he moved over and checked more, still holding the young woman’s attention.

Then came the magical question that brought a grin to both of their faces… fireworks were an amazing thing to cause a distraction and it was giving her a plan. One that would put her fathers business schemes to absolute shame. “I love fireworks festivals~” Some how despite the smile she sounded cold, as if ice had come with her words.

“I have a plan!” She announced, quietly but with vigour. “This ship has two life boats… we get all the fireworks into one push it out into the middle of the water, or under the pirates, then light it! Whilst they deal with that I pinch the fruit. Run back to here and we row out on the other life boat… Is that good?” Annika asked as she looked the man in the eyes, then down to his crate of fireworks. “You’ll need to light it and push it out… so you’re going to need to swim. Is that ok?”

---

Post 19            
Annika:   acd1fc

Captain Bell:  86810a

Dirty Shirt Guy:  bebebe

Yeeeeeeaaaaaaah Guy:    efff9b

Random Dude:      ffffff

Frank:   a55eff

Kal:  e2e619

[Bobbie]

Simon listened to her plan as he nodded along. A part of him was already starting to think about how crazy this was, but he’d soon shut that side of him down. This needed to be done! She couldn’t be the one to do something so dangerous, so it had to be him. It was his job to keep her safe and this was a part of doing that.

“It sounds good.” He said, before chuckling softly, “I will have you know, I am actually a very good swimmer, I’ve even come first in a couple of races back in the day.” He said in a proud tone – it was not something he got to brag about very often. Mostly because it became a bit of a joke back at the station due to the number of times he’d accidentally fallen into the canals, but Annika didn’t have to know that part. He then looked at all the fireworks in the crate.

What could go wrong?

“Alright, let’s get started, help me get all of these onto the boat, and I’ll take it out onto the water closer to the pirates and away from here to attract their attention.” As he spoke, he was already making his way to the trapdoor. He climbed the ladder – carefully – and gently cracked the door open to sneak a peek. “It’s clear!” he called back to her and opened the hatch wide so they could come and go with ease. He rushed down the ladder, skipping the last two steps that were of course still broken, thanks to his big clumsy feet, and hurried over to the crate again. “Do you know how to get into the captain’s cabin from the deck to snatch the fruit?” he asked, worriedly, as he started to take out some of the fireworks to carry up onto the deck where they’d have access to the lifeboats.

It took a couple of careful back-and-forths till they would get all the fireworks onto the lifeboat, with a few pauses here and there when pirates passed by, but they were concealed by the darkness as it was now getting quite late. There would only be just enough room for Simon himself to fit on the boat with them… however, it was risky due to how tight it would be.

“Okay… this is it. You stay hidden and safe until the fireworks all go off and the pirates are busy. Don’t do anything before my signal. I’ll go past the third dock from here, and then light them up.” He paused to watch her, a look of pure concern on his face for the girl. “Okay?” he asked for confirmation – he needed to hear her say it, or he would be an anxious mess the whole ride there. It would only be once he received confirmation that the plan was understood that he boarded the lifeboat, crammed as he was between boxes and packets of explosives, and off he ventured onto the wide open seas.

The officer manned the boat expertly, like a natural-born sailor. One that, perhaps, had very poor packing skills, low dexterity, and was a bit of a hoarder. In fact, it was a wonder the lifeboat didn’t sink within seconds of him paddling off in it. As he’d get smaller and smaller, off in the distance, he’d pass the first dock, and begin making his way to the second, rowing tirelessly. The boat was just too packed, as his elbows hit a cluster of fireworks, knocking a few of them into the water.

“Whoops… well, it’s only a few…” he mumbled to himself as he watched the paper dissolve in the water and gunpowder scatter on the surface of the sea. He felt horrible, but it wasn’t like he could pick it all up, so he kept going.

He reached the second dock, all good. Two rows beyond the second dock and there was suddenly a loud whistle as a firework fired from its box as consequence of the paddle in the officer’s clumsy hand slamming into the cardboard box and causing the exposed ignitable end of one of the rockets to give in to the friction. Then there was a loud boom in the sky and it rained colourful bits of ignited paper.

"Heeeey, look Kal! It's fireworks, we ain't the only ones celebratin'!" Tobias turned to look at the pretty lights in the sky from their own party, lightly slapping his hand into Kal's chest to get his attention, a stupid grin on his face.

“No! No no, this is only the second dock!” he hurried up and rowed faster, squirming his body in the very limited space that he had away from the fireworks that were now starting to go off one by one as the boat was still moving. In his haste, he had accidentally rammed right into the third dock instead of passing it, causing another flurry of whistles and explosions in the sky, coming directly from his death-boat.

Turning to look at the dock, he moved to the closest side of the boat and kicked off the wooden beams of the pier. As his timebomb of a boat drifted away from land, he watched as one pirate who seemed to have caught the source of the fancy fiery spectacle, was running along the wooden platform toward him and his little boat.

---

Tobias: #548565
Simon: #d2ce2f

[Kami-Gaz]

Simon agreed with her plan!? This was going to be amazing! If they could pull it off then no one would be hurt and if the fireworks caught the attention of the police or the world navy this group would be shut down! All they had to do was get the prep and then kick the plan off. “So, Simon the Fish?” She asked teasingly, as she followed the man towards the trap door. Her mood had come right back to its top form! Nothing could stop her now! Nothing!

She had peered into the large crate and saw a staggering number of explosives and fuse wire… none of it she understood. It was still insane that it was all being carried this way… how had this boat not been blown to the sky islands?!

Annika’s train of thought was interrupted when Simon called down and said that it was clear. From that point on the pair took their time to bring the fireworks up and place them into the small boat. It was hard work, but something all of her time working as a costume designer had helped her prepare for. Moving big loads of weighted clothes and materials as she used heavy machines to turn them into fantastic creations for the Pipsi-man plays.

“I’ll just stay on this ship.” The young woman replied to Simon’s input on the plan. He was a police officer after all and it would do no good arguing against him. He was leaving on his vital portion of the plan… he was delivering the distraction to the right spot. A moment passed and she heard the subtle sound of paddles in water, his boat was away.

A cold smile came across her face as she quietly scurried from her designated spot and headed to the captain’s cabin… which was left wide open. Was that good? Was that bad? No matter! The young woman charged into the room and found it to be bare aside from the furniture… at a good glance around everything of value was pinched and taken away. That smile vanished as quick as it came, gone to the icy expression of indifference she used as a defence mechanism.

Simon was turning into a spec in the distance… he was away from her. Now was her time to do something reckless. She had to find the captain’s shack and steal her fruit back from the arsehole. With a tiny pitter patter of her small feet the young woman made her way down the gangplank and around the back of some guards who were sat playing cards by lantern light, that was trivial. It was a quick skirt around the outside of the camp to find the biggest building.

*Pop* *Pop* *Bang* *Whistle* Fireworks? That had to be the signal. There was not much time left to find this fruit. There was a window Annika could climb through easily, once that was done, she looked everywhere for the small chest that held her prize, what she had paid a lot of money for. Minutes passed before more fireworks started to go snap crackle and pop in this cavernous man-made cove.

“Where is it?!” Annika growled to herself after tearing up the last room. “Don’t tell me he took it to the party… Damn.” This was getting her nowhere. With a huff and a hard exhalation to blow some hair that had fallen in front of her eyes away she made her decision. She was going to raid the party at the height of the distraction. She had too! If not then all of this was for naught. Annika Stratinovski was no quitter. Well that was what she was thinking as she leapt out of the window she had entered from and wandered down the makeshift shanty street to the party.

---

Post 20            
Annika:   acd1fc

Captain Bell:  86810a

Dirty Shirt Guy:  bebebe

Yeeeeeeaaaaaaah Guy:    efff9b

Random Dude:      ffffff

Frank:   a55eff

Kal:  e2e619

[Bobbie]

Simon had no idea what was going on back on the ship that he had left behind. Not the faintest clue that Annika had snuck around into the camp in search for the fruit in such dangerous territory. Even more dangerous yet, he did not know how resolute and determined she was in retrieving it, enough to throw herself at peril. No, as far as Simon knew, the fruit was somewhere in the captain’s cabin, and all it took was a simply nicking while he caused a distraction. Annika would be staying on the ship. The police officer held onto his naïve belief that things would actually go according to plan, even after his own journey on the life boat had gone so horribly awry.

His eyes were fixed on the pirate that was now racing across the pier of the dock toward him. If Simon didn’t do something and fast, this scruffy man was going to raise the alarm and all of this would be for nothing – they could get caught, captured, and who knows what these Neanderthals might do to them for sneaking onto their ship and sabotaging their perfect theft plot!

“Stop!” he stood up straight and reluctantly pulled out his pistol, flipping the toggle switch to complete the circuit to the batteries stored in the pistol’s grip that charged the bullets. Standing as straight as he could on the rocking life boat, he aimed the modified gun at the man.

He’s not stopping, he's not stopping! Why isn’t he stopping?

“I said stop, I’m an officer, I will shoot!” he warned in a voice that wasn’t loud enough to attract too much attention. In fact, it was debatable whether it could even be heard over the last set of fireworks that went off. As the boat rocked, another firework shot up into the air in a deafening whistle, causing Simon’s body to flinch as he was startled by what should, by now, be expected. Having no safety setting built into the gun, the sudden jerk of his finger easily squeezed the trigger and he fired.

He hit!

The pirate came to a sudden halt, the bullet only penetrating his muscle deeply enough to cause a shock to pulse through his entire body like a taser effect. As the man’s jaw clenched, his muscles convulsed until he lost all control of his limbs, and he finally fell off the wooden platform into the ocean. The bullet’s charge still surging through the man’s body, coming into contact with water would have devastating effects as an insanely bright blue flash sparked out from the water with a loud clap and a bang, and then it all faded into darkness. Had there not been fireworks going on, it would look like the man had been struck by lightning.

Staring in disbelief, Simon didn’t dare move, his legs stiff as stone as he stood with his arms and pistol still stretched out in front of him. This was the first time he has actually shot his weapon, although unintentionally – he was on a streak today.

The splashing of people entering the water to check on their fallen comrade brought Simon back and he flipped the switch to make it safe to get wet, then he quickly – and very carefully - holstered his weapon. The pirate would be taken care of, that put his mind at ease, and now that the charge was gone, the water was safe. Looking around on the boat, there were hardly any fireworks left to light, but he ignited the fuse wire of the very few that were left and then took a dive into the cold, cold water.

The man was able to show the fruits of his earlier bragging as he soon resurfaced from his dive and began to freestyle swim across the seas toward the main ship where he had left Annika. He was quick and made a direct line to the vessel like a torpedo, but boy was the water cold. Once reaching the dock at which the ship was moored, he grabbed onto the pilot ladder and began to climb his way up the rope rungs till he was on the deck once more, dripping onto the dry floor.

“Okay. That’s done.” He spoke through chattering teeth and short of breath. “Annika?” he called out in a loud whisper as he spun around on the spot, looking for the girl in utter confusion. "Where are you?" 

[Kami-Gaz]

A fire roared in the centre meeting point that overlooked the covered bay as the evening sky faded into a clear night just outside of this man-made cave. Music from violins and singing filled the air as the fire crackled and men danced around, drinking booze and eating barbequed meats. The group was having the time of their lives as they celebrated the haul that they had brought in. “Drink up lads! This was a lot of work for a massive haul!” The familiar slimy voice of Captain Bell called out over the festivities and people just singing. It was a cheery shout that got a massive roar of “AYE!” from the entire lot.

More fireworks had started to go off from the small life boat and everyone spun around as a bright blue flash came from the nearby dock. It was odd, they were going to set theirs off a bit later… and these were close, like real close. “Hey, who set the poppers of early?” Kal shouted from the back as the series of explosions suddenly got very violent.

Annika’s cold and harsh smile came as she saw her chest sitting pretty on the bench beside Slimy Captain Bell. “Simon did, and it’s perfect…” She whispered as she moved out to slowly creep forwards, still in the shade, her black hood was now up to conceal her hair. As she got closer the first firework whizzed through and exploded just over the fire sending colourful sparks everywhere and deafening most people. The young woman herself covered her ears from the blast, but kept moving forwards.

She was so very close to the chest as everything turned into pure anarchy. All the fireworks started to go off at once. Different sized fireworks shot everywhere and most of them seemed to go into the shanty camp that had been made with a series of colourful booms. In this moment the captain turned around to see his chest being slid away and into the small arms of a short blue haired minx. “YOU!”

“Me!” Annika replied quickly before without thinking kicking forward with all of her strength into the mans privates. “ANNIKA KICK!” She announced as he crumpled to the ground in a wheezing squeak as his manhood was so brutally assaulted without warning. Annika turned and made her exit, bolting away and out of the chaos as fireworks exploded behind, around, above and ahead of her.

“Get that brat!” Captain bell yelled as he lay curled up on the floor, pointing a finger in her direction. Despite his curled-up squeak of a yell some of his men heard and saw the girl running away. With a grunt a few men managed to collect themselves and begin following the girl from the centre of the camp back towards the smugglers ship. The rabble had to dodge explosions, debris and fire as everything went to hell and back with how the fireworks were acting… which is honestly better than what the girl had originally planned.

Despite the bulk and the weight of the chest in her arms ahead of her Annika ran like her life depended on it, she could hear Simon calling her name and it was a beacon. As things exploded, she picked up speed into a sprint. “SIMON! GET THE BOAT! GET THE BOAT!” She yelled out with fervour, knowing there were people chasing her… just not how impeded they were with all of the fireworks going off. This place was going to be a smouldering wreck and ever policeman and marine could see and hear this for miles! Rescue should come soon.

---

Post 21            
Annika:   acd1fc

Captain Bell:  86810a

Dirty Shirt Guy:  bebebe

Yeeeeeeaaaaaaah Guy:    efff9b

Random Dude:      ffffff

Frank:   a55eff

Kal:  e2e619

[Bobbie]

As the party ensued, Tobias was clinging to Kal in annoying fashion, an arm around his neck and a drink in his other hand, singing along to whatever song was being sung at the time with entirely mismatched lyrics and horrendous timing in his drunken state. At the sound of their captain’s voice, Tobias was the first to raise his drink a bit too roughly, causing some of it to spill out onto his pirate companion and himself. “AYE CAP’N!” he shouted, happily.

Simon could see that there was clearly some sort of celebration going on in the distance though it wasn’t very far away. Approaching the rail of the ship to get a closer look, he craned his neck and squinted. For a moment, he thought he could spot Captain Bell amidst the crowd, but there was no way Miguel was stupid enough to let him escape... Then his concern shifted onto his partner as he silently hoped she wasn't in the crowd as well. “Annika..?” he fruitlessly asked, his voice not being loud enough to carry and was more of an exclamation of disbelief than a question that begged an answer. 

There’s no way… she wouldn’t … would she? Oh... Oh no… yes, she would. Ohhh no….

The officer’s jaw dropped when he heard Annika hollering and he stared at her figure now becoming distinguishable as it was coming in his direction. “You were supposed to be on the boat!” Worry instantly filled him and he was ready to scold her further for leaving the ship, before his eyes fell on the utter chaos that followed close behind her and he was once again speechless. His eyes grew wide as he spotted the scene – it looked like something out of a post-apocalyptic comic, as ashes from the fireworks floated down to the ground, some of them burnt out and others still faintly glowing. If word got out that he caused that, he would be in a lot of trouble for all the damage done to public property – but… was it public property? Then the angry mob emerged behind the girl, whose silhouettes appeared in the darkness, out from the catastrophic disaster of explosions, wild flames, and ashen clouds that were filling the air.

“The boat!” he rushed to the second lifeboat and quickly began lowering it down into the sea to prepare it for her. He tossed a few provisions in too, unsure of how long they’d be stranded on this lifeboat for, just in case they ended up needing some of the canned goods that he managed to find at such short notice. Once the boat was afloat, he boarded it, appreciating all the space on it unlike the last one, and paddled it as close to the pier as he could. He stood upright with his feet firmly glued to the boat’s base and stretched an arm out in Annika’s direction to get her attention and urge her on. “Over here!”

As the boat wobbled, he leaned forward to place a hand on the wooden boards of the dock to keep himself steady and prevent the boat from drifting away. He also wanted to secure his stance, not that he had much to lose as his uniform was already soaking wet, his hair dripping, and his body utterly frozen to the core. He moved his other hand in a stiff rotating motion, perhaps in a desperate attempt to keep his blood flowing, but looked like he was directing traffic – population, one; vehicle, on foot.

“Stop her, Kal!” Tobias shouted once he picked up on what was happening, his attention falling on the commotion, as if it was his encouraging words that could really make a difference in catching the blue-haired girl.

Simon’s attention went back onto the people that were chasing after Annika again, and then back to the girl once more. “Come on, come on!” He wished he had also managed to toss a blanket or some of that silk down onto the raft as well.

---

Tobias: #548565
Simon: #d2ce2f

[Kami-Gaz]

Everything was happening at once, buildings were burning, fireworks were popping and men were running in every which direction as a blue haired girl ran at top speed through it all towards a ship carrying their escape boat. Her previous shouts had alerted a few more of the panicking men to her existence but they were a bit preoccupied dealing with burning buildings. The captain of this gaggle of idiots was still recovering from his testicular destruction, pointing in her direction and screeching intelligibly at the girl. Occasionally his words resembled orders like “Get my fruit back!” Or “Stop Her!”

The aforementioned ‘her’ was blitzing through the chaos with a small chest in her arms, leaping obstacles in a single-minded mad dash to get to the smugglers ship as Simon the smiling cop was lowering their escape boat. This was way more exciting than a shopping trip! And still it was somehow a little less dangerous. All those years of darting around shops at the minutes of opening after a new clothes line release have trained her well for running in this kind of chaos.

Her little stylish trainer shoe covered feet dashed up the gangplank with haste, the dull little thuds drowned out by the numerous repeated explosions and shouts. That was when she paused a moment, a thought came. She spun around and kicked the buckles tying the gangplank in place. With a snap all the ropes unravelled and the plank crumpled under the weight of the few men that had piled up after her, each of them yelling and yelping when their bodies dropped into the cold waters. “Take a dip.” She spoke softly, a cold smile on her face as she spun around and made her way over to Simon and the lowered boat. It was really a shame no one heard that, it was so badass too!

“Let’s go!” She spoke, dashing down the rope ladder with one hand as fast as she could. There was a loud *WHIZ* and the sound of wood shattering under impact coming from the ship they had just left… oh that was not good. “Row! Row!” She ordered with a frightened tone.

*BOOM* The firework that had gotten inside the smugglers ship popped, making boards crack and a massive fire spark inside of it… That was going to be a really big bang when it got to that mine the pirates had found just before docking.

---

Post 22            
Annika:   acd1fc

Captain Bell:  86810a

Dirty Shirt Guy:  bebebe

Yeeeeeeaaaaaaah Guy:    efff9b

Random Dude:      ffffff

Frank:   a55eff

Kal:  e2e619

[Bobbie]

Simon was lost amidst all the chaos and the huge spectacle for another moment. How did things get so messed up? This was a disaster and the report for all of this would be hours of paperwork, and how could he even begin to explain it?

The loud shouts and then the splash of Annika’s pursuers falling into the freezing water caught his attention. He couldn’t help cringing – the water was absolutely freezing and Simon knew that first hand. Although he shouldn’t have, he actually felt bad for them. He looked up as the girl rushed down the ladder at dangerous speeds, followed by the whizzing, crackling, and popping in the middle of the chaos that they caused.

“Okay! Okay!” Simon promptly picked up the oars of the boat, quite used to taking orders and following them without question as a part of his job, and so he started rowing like a mad man, his arms working furiously to get away from the catastrophic explosion that must have been on his way. His mind raced as he thought about the bomb that was on the ship, and his eyes followed in the same direction. Luckily, there did not seem to be many civilians around, as this place seemed to be inhabited exclusively by these pirates… maybe they just got lucky.

The frozen ice block of an officer inhaled deeply and exhaled through chattering teeth, his arms moving robotically at this point with muscles that were permanently locked in their tense state. It wasn’t until they were far enough from the large ship that he looked at his companion and his lips, as blue as the girl’s hair, curled into a friendly smile to reveal the source of the repetitive clicking sound: his teeth knocking against each other uncontrollably. Now he could finally relax as they were at a safe enough distance from the ship and the angry mob. The dock looked so far away, it was hard to believe that he rowed all the way out there, it looks so tiny! Even the ship’s size looked comparatively small next to the space they had in their little life boat.

“That was –“ despite it being so far away, the explosion on the boat was extremely loud and easily outdid the previous explosive spectacle of fireworks as this one lit up the entire night sky with a mushroom-shaped nuclear-styled bright orange cloud. It interrupted the man’s sentence and entirely captured his attention, his head darting round for his gaze to fall on it as he stared at it in awe. Had it not been for their circumstances, it really did look quite beautiful.

“Wow…” he turned his attention back to the girl and then started laughing. It started as a little soft chuckle, then his shoulders began to shake with a heartier laugh, blending in with his shivers, and the next thing he knew, Simon was in full uncontrollable wide-mouthed laughter.

“What… just… happened?” he wheezed out in between laughs as the extraordinary situation just became too much for the ordinary man to handle.

Letting go of the oars, the officer fell backwards onto the floor of the boat, only causing him to laugh even harder, his hands now raised to cover his face in embarrassment. This was a very serious situation, as an officer of the law he should not find this amusing at all, but he couldn’t stop the hysterical laughter that seemed to take over.

Meanwhile, the boat continued to drift further out onto the wide open seas, away from land.

---

Simon: #d2ce2f

[Kami-Gaz]

Everything was still an utter state of chaos behind the pair as Simon rowed them away with the determination of a man about to receive a hug from a beautiful babe. It was needed as not long after the firework had set the gunpowder ablaze the sea mine in the ship triggered with a fantastic explosion, a blinding light and a wave of pressure and air rocking their boat in the cold waters as they escaped the manmade cave cove. This was very much a cool kids don’t look at explosions moment… the thing was these two were not cool kids, they very much had watched the boat explode with the chaos that was already going on.

“Whoa…” Annika muttered in tandem to the amazement of Simon and his cut off sentence. Then there was a silence as Simon started to chuckle… this prompted Annika to giggle as he started to laugh. Then Annika exploded into a roar of laughter just as Simon hit the deck of their rowboat in an uncontrollable laugh.

“I… Don’t… Know!” She replied between her own bouts of laughter, wow this was hurting her sides. With hands clutching at her belly she leaned back and looked into the sky, the sounds of explosions finally stopped but a roaring fire could be heard in the distance with the drowned out shouts of many men. “We had an adventure! Better than what Pipsi-man would have, that is for sure!” She finally spoke after catching her breath.

The night sky was clear and it showed the stars in all their glory this distance from Water7. The city was still on the horizon but getting there in this was going to be difficult. “I like you Simon, can we be friends after this?” Annika asked softly, the bare illumination of the moon making her pale face still shine in the dark. “I want to have more adventure.”

---

Post 23            
Annika:   acd1fc

Captain Bell:  86810a

Dirty Shirt Guy:  bebebe

Yeeeeeeaaaaaaah Guy:    efff9b

Random Dude:      ffffff

Frank:   a55eff

Kal:  e2e619