New Beginnings and Rocky Relations!

[Fox]

Maple slipped off the boat she’d arrived on as a pile of ribbons carried off by the wind. She flew over the boat and inland, thankfully, as that was where the wind happened to be blowing. She reformed, falling and landing on top of a bale of hay that happened to be laying around. Phew. Another successful stowaway! Maple kicked back and closed her eyes happily. Who knew where she’d ended up this time? The hay was pretty darn comfy though. Huh… Maple yawned.

No, no. She couldn’t go to sleep. What if someone walked around the back of this building and found her? But… so comfy. In the next instant, Maple was out like a light, snoring on top of the hay pile. Her tail curled up around her short frame like a fluffy blanket. She hugged it and drooled slightly, hay sticking to her face.

She was, of course, totally exposed like this. Maple did resemble a racoon or some other such critter, just wearing clothes. She could have been mistaken for a wild animal or someone’s pet in this state. The building she happened to be hiding behind was a warehouse at the town wharf. The hay was on a cart that had been brought for the clear purpose of selling either at the port market or exported on a merchant ship.

Still, it was so comfy that she couldn’t help but fall into a deep, dreamless sleep. Sleeping on ships hidden and tucked away in out of sight corners was not comfortable. She couldn’t even remember the last time she’d had the opportunity to sprawl out fully, much less on something as comfortable as a bale of hay let alone a bed.

“...Mmm… applesauce…”

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Maple | #4cbb17 | Post Count: 1

[Fennec]

Puru-puru Puru-puru~

Then Den Den Mushi went off its stalk eyes brightening up. An old man in a chair stared at the flames of his fireplace twirling his scruffy mustache. He was very much aware of the snail. Yet, he continued to stare at the flames.

“The phone is ringing, sir.”

A voice came from behind the butler, an olive toned man with a suit and fez stepped forward bringing the old man some tea. The old man didn’t even turn around, simply giving a grunt and reaching toward the tea. He took a sip and let out a sigh, finally turning his eyes away from the flame. The butler just stared at him apprehensively.

“Mmm…”

With a wrinkly hand he reached toward the Den Den Mushi picking it up. A sweat bead fell down his forehead now.

“Mushi, mushi.”

He replied quickly.

“Ah… I thought you weren’t going to pick up the phone! Kiriririri.”

~^~~

Gray clouds circled above the sky as Rook found himself walking down a silent town. The young man looked around his eyes sliding in the white of his eyes lazily from side to side. There was not a single soul in the streets to be seen and just when Rook thought he saw someone he heard a door slam shut. It seemed all the citizens were hiding in some sort of curfew of sorts. But why? What were they so afraid of? It couldn’t be him. He’d just arrived after all.

“Hello…?”

He yelled out. His voice echoed through the winding streets devoid of any reply. Rook stood still and looked around once more. The homes in the small town in Shivre were for the most part like any other in the North Blue. Made of a mix of stone and wood materials acquired from the mountains that surrounded this rocky land. Everything was well kept and it gave the sense that’d been maintained this way for many generations. It was just that vibe that one got when visiting an older town… the simple cracks in the brick road which had been patched over; a result of salts used to thaw snow.

“Strange…”

The young man turned around, he really needed directions and wasn’t about to leave without them. Perhaps going back to the wharf would be a good idea. After all, the coast usually had the most activity… or so Rook assumed having been born in a port town himself. But to his surprise he didn’t find anyone either. All the boats were in place. But no sailor was aboard them. Rook scratched his head confused. That is when he heard a voice mumble something.

“…apple…”

Was all he got really the rest was lost in the wind. He quickly turned around to look for the source but didn’t see anything in the immediate area, just a warehouse. Perhaps it came from inside? A part of Rook was truthfully a bit skeptical in regards to breaking or entering into a premise. But at the same time he didn’t want to spend longer on this island than needed. After all, the Grand Line was calling for him and he was hoping to find “Reverse Mountain. In fact he’d actually confused the peaks of this island for the red line only to be surprised with just a humble red rock island.

“Hellooooo…?”

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Rook | Gunsmoke #f5f5f5 | Post Count: 1

[Fox]

“Mmmm….” Maple frowned and snuggled deeper into the hay as a voice called out loudly. She wanted to dive right back into sleep, but that little bug known as paranoia crawled its way into her brain. What if it was a human? What if they saw her? What if they thought she was a monster? What if they shot her while she was sleeping?!

With a heavy sigh, Maple opened her weary eyes and sat up. Hay stuck to half of her body as she did. It didn’t take her long to spot basically the only human around. Maple narrowed her eyes as her eyes locked onto him. Uh… what should she do? Hide? No, he’d probably already seen her. Run? Where? Surely, there’d be big crowds all over the place. Maple glanced around.

“Huh? Where is everybody…?”

This was weird. There was basically no one else around. Maple’s eyes narrowed incredulously. What…? She rubbed her face. Maybe she was actually just sleeping. She slapped herself in the face a couple times and lifted her arms up to the sky.

“Wake up! Abracadabra! Uh… Wakey says-a-me!”

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Maple | #4cbb17 | Post Count: 2

[Fennec]

At first Rook hadn’t even seen the tanuki girl at all. Terrible really, you’d expect a hunter of his caliber to have any degree of perception. But this wasn’t the woods or the tundra. This was a more civilized location. An unfamiliar one at that. That said, it did take him by surprise to see a raccoon dog of all creatures in the middle of town at midday. Weren’t they nocturnal? Unless it was very desperately looking for a meal in the trash. The better question however was… why was it wearing clothing and why was it talking? Rook couldn’t say he knew. The reality was this was the first time he’d seen a raccoon dog in person seeing as he’d only heard of them from the tales his mother told him and only seen them in animal picture books his father had lended him.

“Uh… hi! Uhh you can talk? I didn’t know tanuki could talk.”

He tilted his head… a talking animal was certainly not something he’d expected to ever meet. Though perhaps it was a neat trick of sorts? Like maybe this raccoon dog was someone’s pet. That’d explain the clothes and maybe it’d learn to mimic human speech like a parrot or one of those weird foxes his mother had told him about. Rook scratched his head confused but he was willing to play along with this. Plus there could be a chance this tanuki could actually speak and it wasn’t just some cute trick. Then again. All it had said was gibberish until now.

“Hey uh… I’m new in town. You know where everyone went?”

Part of him wondered if perhaps placating to their animal sensibilities would placate some sort of peace or understanding between the two. But that was risky. Maybe he’d give that a shot as a plan B! For now!

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Rook | Gunsmoke #f5f5f5 | Post Count: 2

[Fox]

Her dream was talking to her. Weird. Maple stared at the human who was approaching her with narrower eyes. “Duh, of course I can talk. Who can’t talk? Babies! That’s who! And I’m no baby!”

Okay, maybe she was more tired than she thought. That barely made sense. Could you be tired in a dream? Boy, that would suck. But knowing her luck, she was probably just tired in her dream. In response to his second question, Maple just shrugged.

“I dunno. I just got here too probably. Or I dreamed I did and I’m still stuck somewhere in that boat.”

Maple hopped out of the cart, landing on her feet and shaking off the hay clinging to her fur. Her fur fluffed up dramatically. She had to slick it back down as she glanced around. Kind of a boring dream. No one around. Usually her dreams were a lot more anxiety inducing. Big crowds, being naked. Taking tests. Ugh. Things like that. This was a new one. Maybe she could try flying since she was lucid dreaming? She lifted her arms up to the sky and thought with all her might. Fly! Up, up, and away! She peeked with one eye. Was… was it working? It didn’t feel like it was working.

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Maple | #4cbb17 | Post Count: 3

[Fennec]

“Well… uhh… pardon me ma’am. My name is Rook by the way.”

Rook replied as he continued to approach Maple and stood roughly eight feet away from her conscious not to approach too closely lest he scare the stranger away. It was still odd that he’d met a talking tanuki. That said, the world was big and the Grand Line supposedly had even grander things in store.

“You dreamed you came here?”

A crooked smile spread across his lips as he tried to hold back laughter. The tanuki before him was a little weird for sure but he enjoyed her company thus far. His hazel eyes took her appearance in more thoroughly now that she was within range… she was… surprisingly humanoid. Sure, her fur, ears, tail, and snout screamed tanuki. But everything else about her was very human. That is when it clicked for Rook. Or so he thought it did. Maybe she ate a Devil Fruit like him and her powers let her transform into a raccoon dog. Could a fruit do that? He wasn’t sure to be honest. His only experience with a fruit was his own and quite frankly he was figuring that out as he went. It didn’t help that his father’s journal was nearly illegible due to his atrocious handwriting.

“What… what are you doing?”

Rook tilted his head as his hazel eyes took note of the raccoon dog before him trying to fly with her arms. Flapping them like a baby bird. Or a child mimicking a bird or some such creature. Rook’s brow raised as he curiously observed her. Maybe that was one of her other fruit abilities if she was a fruit user. Flight! Of course. Except… last he checked canids couldn’t fly. But then again they also didn’t produce smoke. Rook scratches his head. This fruit business was so weird to him. Perhaps it was rude but he needed to ask now.

“Did you eat a Devil Fruit too?”

But his inquiry would be cut short once he heard another voice in the distance. This was of an older man judging by the tone and it showed a degree of fatherly concern. Rook turned around to see a butler with a fez rapidly approaching. There was a large brown suit case in his hand. Behind him two suited men in sunglasses armed with flintlocks following closely behind. Two body guards it seemed?

“What are you guys doing here! This is no time to be walking your dog youngman!”

Rook blinked indignantly, this was a very strange island. Like even more strange than his homeland which seemed like a peaceful boreal haven by comparison.

“Listen here young man, the pirates will come at any moment now you have to hide.”

Pirates? Huh. Were they talking about him? It couldn’t be right? Plus he wasn’t that dangerous was he? Rook stared blankly at the man until he heard laughter coming from the corner of the wharf as he saw a pair of individuals turning the corner. The first was the source of the cackling, a tall lanky woman with brown skin and blonde hair. She wore what looked like a makeshift leopard’s skin dress and held onto a spear tightly. She didn’t come as a solo package either as she was sitting on top of a very large panther which growled. Along with her was a short portly man dressed in flannel and bright orange vest jacket. His skin was pale and hair was dark brown, a beanie sat atop his head firmly. He carried a throwing ax in one hand and stroked his beard with the other.

“Well, well, well, what do we have here? You finally ran out of money so you’re paying us with people eh?”

The woman was the first to speak up, her bright green eyes pierced through Rook who just stood still watching the exchange between the adults. The fez wearing butler turned pale. His fear had come true… wait until his boss heard the news that a civilian was caught in the crossfire. Beads of sweat began to trickle down his forehead.

“N-no, no! Here I have the money!”

He opened the suitcase revealing thousands of beri inside. The huntress sneered at the money. Her interests had been piqued by the would-be civilians. To the surprise of no one and to the dread of the butler she gave a grim smile. Only to say.

“Why not both?”

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Rook | Gunsmoke #f5f5f5 | Post Count: 3

[Fox]

“Oh. Uh. Hi? Maple. ER- IS MY NAME,” the tanuki Mink’s face flushed a bright red. Why couldn’t she speak? Why couldn’t she be normal? The fur on her body fluffed up as Rook approached, settling back down when he stopped. That allowed her nerves to calm down enough to actually hear and process his question.

“Uh, I mean, this is a dream, right?”

Maple looked all around assessing her surroundings. She knew she’d been on a boat before this and she hazily remembered slinking into town, but that could have been the dream. Dreams were tricksy like that. They usually didn’t ask her a million questions. Maple lifted her arms into the air and willed a big apple to fall into her paws. She shut her eyes and concentrated, doing little grabby motions with her claws. Huh. No apple? Hm. And trying to fly earlier hadn’t worked either. Very suspicious. Holding out her paw wide, she scrunched up her face as she slapped herself. Hard. Probably too hard as it sent her tumbling backwards.

“Ow…” Maple sat up again, rubbing her cheek before glaring down at the boy who saw fit to ask her a million questions. “What does it look like?! I was trying to fly! And then eat a giant apple! And then-”

Realization crashed over Maple like a tidal wave.

“Wait, how did you know I ate a Devil Fruit?”

Their conversation didn’t get much further than that as a trio of humans approached. Maple fluffed up apprehensively, but immediately bounced out of the hay and onto the street when he called her a dog.

“I am NOT a dog! How da- Pirates?”

Maple went quiet as her eyes widened. Pirates? She took a tentative step backward, frantically scanning her surroundings. A chill ran down her spine as a cruel laugh filled the air. Maple froze. She tried to will herself to move, but she couldn’t. She was rooted to the spot. The butler guy tried to defuse the situation, but pirates were greedy and awful. Her eyes flitted to the only other person there, Rook, pleading for help. But, he was just a kid. What could he even do? It was just going to be Criss Cross all over again.

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Maple | #4cbb17 | Post Count: 4