No need to be sappy (Moon)

[Genbu]

It was fortunate that the ship was so close to an island, when everything went down.

It was just supposed to be a simple trip from one island to the next, simple.

The fee was fair, nothing too expensive, just like any other ship ferry.

A room for the ride, some meals, and just a couple days out at sea.



Yet, a trip that was said to only take 3 days dragged on another day, and another day, and soon 6 days had passed since they had gotten on the ship and the other ferry passengers started to get antsy. The crew of the ship were getting agitated and annoyed, and soon began to impose more rules, withholding food and water to those who disobeyed, and eventually, weapons were drawn to those who tried to fight back.

Then the true intentions were revealed. They weren't a ferry crew but slavers, and had purposely tried to starve and weaken those on the ship in order to capture them for sale. Needless to say, the following events lead to the passengers all being tied up and thrown in the brig... or at least, it would have happened that way if it weren't for the fact that two of the passengers, a man and his snake, weren't the normal kind of passengers.



"Good! Run off into the village! Go and seek somewhere safe!" Lukas called out, as the lifeboat ran ashore of the beach at the north side of the island, shaking those inside briefly before they made their way off the small boat and up the sloped path toward the village. Lukas stood firm at the base of the pathway and looked toward the ship they had escaped, watching as a separate lifeboat made its way ashore. The lifeboat only had a few members, men armed with sabers and hosting some very annoyed looks on their faces as they raised their weapons and approached Lukas.

"We might not be able to get our prize but at the very least we'll be able to kill you!" The leader of this group shouted, though Lukas knew that this wasn't the captain or even the first mate of the group of slavers, Lisa had trapped them in their cabin with some tricks they weren't expecting. Maybe these were some men looking to get a bonus or at the very least, get some brownie points for taking out the leader of the man who freed their potential victims.

Lukas cracked his knuckles and frowned down at the men, counting about 5 of them, as his stomach growled a little too loudly. "I swear, not only did ya not take me to my destination, ya kept me from eatin', kept me from sleepin' nice, and even kept me from drinkin', and ya actin' like the pissed ones?" He grumbled, before walking down the path as the men approached. "I suggest ya give me ya berry and hop back on ya ship before I turn ya all into bloody messes." Lukas added, cracking his neck.

The men, upset with this declaration, charged with their blades high and their attitudes defiant and then.

Well...

Lukas made quick work of them and grumbled as he tossed a bag of coins in the air a few times, watching the men take both lifeboats back toward their ship which was anchored out at sea. They were hardly worth the time, and while the fight was brief it still only worked to increase his hunger even moreso than before. "Urgh... I ain't had a proper meal in days... I'm so hungry I could eat a sea king..." He said, tossing the bag up to Lisa as she popped her head out, grabbing it deftly with her mouth and bringing it down into her bag beneath Lukas' shield.

"Well... let's see where we are, yeh? Maybe they'll have somethin' good." Lukas added, rubbing his stomach as he made his way up the hill toward town. He was certain the others who were with him would have gotten to town safely, so hopefully they'd have some food waiting as well.

"Heard em say we're passin' by a place called Syrup Village... maybe they specialize in syrups."

[Mr. Moon]

Gabriel #1

Syrup Village a peaceful part of the world, that rarely suffered from raids of pirates and similar lowlifes was terrified that morning by the arrival of large armed ship, that was so bit that it could easily carry dozens, if not hundreds of crew members. Well, truth to be told it wasn´t the ship itself that put the freezing thorn of fear in the hearts of locals, but the flag it proudly displayed as it carried the personal sigil of Gabriel Moon, the grandmaster of M.A.R.I. a terrible criminal with bounty way over 30 million belly. Number that wouldn´t be all that impressive in other parts of the world made him one of the most dangerous and powerful criminals in the whole ocean, at least in the eyes of the poor souls in the Syrup Village. Not to mention other names and faces known from the Wanted Posters that accompanied him!
At this point everyone heard the stories about the cruel professor and his monstrous, men eating dog, not to mention his brutish lieutenants and followers. So they were kinda shocked when the “man eating monster” proved herself to be a silly goofball addicted to belly rubbing and the Professor himself turned out as a socially awkward...well, professor.
The whole crew was taking break during their travels, paying handsomely to the villagers for restocking their ship, while the large sumo wrestled named Hariyama threw a BBQ party for the crew and local alike in the middle of the village.
The mood was generally very cheerful, with only Eponine, the ship´s main physician brooding in the shadows of tall tree, while Gabriel was stuffing himself with cookies and coffee. The coffee was too bitter for his taste, but the chocolate chips cookies he bought from a local elderly lady were delicious.

[Genbu]

The sudden appearance of 6 people running into the village, tripping over themselves and calling out for help would certainly send waves through the BBQ being thrown, even if it only really caused the villagers to react to the sudden intrusion. The 6 people were a little thin, moved sluggishly, and once they were close enough to the small party a couple of them collapsed as the others begged for help or food. The smell of the BBQ brought them there, ignoring almost anything else going on and praying for proper help.

One of the starved escapees would instead rouse a call for help for the man in armor who had helped them escape, that he had stayed back to fight the pirates alone after helping them escape to the island. That he had stayed behind to fight off the pursuers so that they could make it to the island unhindered and that surely, surely he'd need help as well. She'd fall to her knees, begging for someone, anyone, to help the man, to help the man and his snake friend so they wouldn't be recaptured and sold off as a slave.


Lukas clutched his stomach as he leaned against a tree, taking deep slow breaths as he closed his eyes for a moment. He hadn't realized just how hungry he had become after all that had happened, and as he did his best to support himself, he felt Lisa shift and slide out from her spot in her bag and down his body. A moment later, he felt a hand on his cheek and he looked at her, as she had shifted into her lamia form and looked at him worriedly.

"Hey hey hey now... it's too dangerous for ya to be out like this..." He said softly, giving her a small smile.

"We're alone right now, and we need to find you something to eat and soon." Lisa said, shaking her head and putting her hands on his shoulders, pushing him down to the ground against the tree. "Now sit down and rest and I'll find something for you to eat."

"Fine... fine, but even a hit of seeing someone, I want you to hide..."

"Hide where I can and transform back, don't worry I haven't forgotten." She interrupted, giving him a small smile. "I can smell someone cooking in the distance but in the forest I can smell some animals. Rest up." She said, patting his head and slithering off into the forest as quick as she could, leaving him on just off the pathway as he relaxed.

"Ha... I don't think I've ever been so... ha..." He panted, clutching his stomach as it let out such a loud growl.