Culture, Art, and......Kindness?

[.::Haseo On The Clouds::.]

The clouds stretched out as the bright rays of the late day sun shattered the skies to fill the island of Toroa with it's bliss and magnificence. The late birds sang, the the common-folk laughed and enjoyment filled the very air. A perfect place for Axel to be! He enjoyed the happiness of others and he himself could not help but laugh with the people as dances went around, street performers spun, and salesmen beckoned others to buy their merchandise. Axel walked with his fingers locked together on his head and his arms to the sides. He momentarily stretched as he passed by a street musician who was so caught up in their ballad, that they weren't aware of anything of their surroundings.

It was a peaceful afternoon, a day of fun, the beautiful sunset, and another round of fabulous gourmet food. Yes and island like this was completely bliss, Axel enjoyed his time here. In fact he was so glad to just relax that he had completely forgotten about any sort of bounty hunting to do around this area and walked too far away, to the area where the thugs rested.

Now a peaceful guy just wandering along just whistling with his eyes closed was like a free meal walking by a couple of starving lions. The thugs felt lucky, they felt powerful........the perfect mood to mug. Too bad that they were picking on the wrong guy.

Axel noticed nothing as he trudged along, whistling his tunes and singing...........

"Yo-hohoho, Yohohohoo,
Yo-hohoho, Yohohohoo,
Yo-hohoho, Yohohohoo,

Yo-hohoho, Yohohohoo,


Going to deliver Binks' Sake!
Following the sea breeze! Riding on the waves!
Far across the salty depths! The merry evening sun!
Painting circles in the sky as the Birds Sing


Farewell to the harbor, To my old hometown
Lets all sing out with a Don! As the ship sets sail
Waves of gold and silver dissolve to salty spray
As we all set sail to the ends of the sea


Going to deliver Binks' Sake!
We are pirates sailing through the Sea!
The waves are our pillows, The ship our roost
Flying the proud Skull On our flags and our sails


Now comes a storm through the far-off sky
Now the waves are dancing, Beat upon the drums
If you lose your nerve this breath could be your last
But if you just hold on, The morning sun will rise


Yo-hohoho, Yo-hohoho,
Yo-hohoho, Yo-hohoho,
Yo-hohoho, Yo-hohoho,
Yo-hohoho, Yo-hohoho,


Going to deliver Binks' Sake!
Today, and tomorrow, our dreams through the night!
Waving our goodbyes, we'll never meet again!
But don't look so down, For at night the moon will rise!


Going to deliver Binks' Sake!
Let's all sing it with a Don! A song of the waves
Doesn't matter who you are, Someday you'll just be bones
Never-Ending, Ever-wandering, Our funny Traveling tale!


Yo-hohoho, Yo-hohoho,
Yo-hohoho, Yo-hohoho,
Yo-hohoho, Yo-hohoho,
Yo-hohoho, Yo-hohoho, "

Axel wasn't a pirate but he stilled loved this song.

"NOW!" one thug yelled out as he lunged with a club to beat Axel down. Still whistling and singing, Axel lifted his arm up and grabbed the club, pulling the thug into a wall where the thug lay still. The other 4 thugs charged in and found themselves still as well as Axel just slapped them silly with his hands. After a while, he found himself back on the mainstreets, continuing to enjoy the day, when he heard loud trumpets playing.

"Wow! A marching band!"

[White Mimic]

"HeeHeeHeeeeeeeeeeee! Look at all these people!" Jacques was standing on top of one of the large ornate buldings that seemed to populate the majority of Toroa's architecture. He himself never came to Toroa, but his predecessors had made many runs through the islands cities. "Walking wallets I say!" At the moment, a parade was going on through the main streets.

"And they're all distracted. Eheeheehee. Good Day!" He was about to slide down the wall into the alley so that he could pick their pockets real quickly. but stopped himself short of the ledge and looked back to the corner of the roof. There was a large sack of loot from the people's houses. Jacques always made sure to take minor objects that wouldn't be missed so as not to arouse suspicion. Most of his loot today was silverware and a bit of the people's change with the occasional chinaware thrown in for good measure. These people were truly loaded.

"But...I don't think the sack will carry anymore." Jacques looked back at the festivity. "Geez. It's too much of an oppurtunity." He brightened up and snapped his fingers with a metalic 'clink'.

"I know! I'll just leave this stuff up here and come back for it after I clean the pockets!" He adjusted his loot to a position where it wouldn't be seen from the streets and promptly slid into the alleyway.

He took his orange helmet off in the safety of the darkness, showing his second mask. "This should be enough to pass me off as a performer, but for the sake of festivity..." He put on several gold trimmings around his jacket to add a little more flavor, as he would have said. His helmet paneled up and he stored it in his jacket pocket. He stepped over the unconscious bodies of a few thugs and stealthily entered the parade.

He started performing a few acrobatics, just to appear theatric, then breezed by several of the spectators, drawing out an orange hat from his disguise kit. He held it to the audience as a street performer. As he grew closer to the audience, several members gave him change, while the more stingy of the spectators had their pockets picked. 'Heehee, suckers.' Jacques thought to himself in triumph.

[.::Haseo On The Clouds::.]

The music was like cheerful thunder as the band played powerfully with beats of delight. The street performers danced and juggled, the entertainers.....uhhhhh entertained and the audience reacted with joy and cheering. Axel couldn't help but join in as he cheered and laughed, whistled and clapped. He was enjoying himself quite well. "Wow look at that! Oh and those guys with those trumpets are just whew! Man what a great time! These guys really know how to put on a show! The band began to pass by as the street performers came in with their talents.

Axel saw many things, blades juggling in the air, acrobatics, spinning, kicking, flipping, so many wonderful talents! Well Axel himself had a talent as well, a talent of great sight and and awareness. With his intuition he felt that something was wrong. "Hey that guy is......."

In the corner of his eye, Axel could spot an orange gold figure, performing with acrobatics and.........pick-pocketing! Axel himself was a Bounty Hunter, and he took out any criminal, even those without bounties.

With a jerk of his thumb, His sword slightly became drawn and was just barely un-sheathed. He moved quickly.

As he moved through with great skill, he attempted to grab the collar of the looter and would then throw him into the small shadowy alley right between the left fort, and the right hotel.

With this he would say with a warm smile.......""Enjoying the festivities?"

[White Mimic]

Jacques felt a strong grip on his collar as he was thrown into the alleyway. He didn't expect to be caught in a place with no marine intervention, he must've let his guard down. Still, when he was pulled away he noticed that his marks hadn't yet realized what had happened. As he regained his balance, he checked himself over and looked at who had done it. Just a man with a sword, nothing he couldn't handle.

"Yes, actually. At least, until the sudden side conversation." He brushed himself off where he had been handled, picking off a few flecks of dust from his pants as well. He looked past the stranger back to the parade. The acrobats were in a group roughly 30 meters long before the parade faded back into musicians.

"Is there something you wanted sir? I have to get back with the others before they pass me. Wait a minute..." Jacques was faking intrigue at the moment. "Are you a talent scout? Ohoohoohoo! You're scouting me aren't you? You think I'm that good? What company do you work for? The South Blue Knickers? Or maybe, The North Blue Juliandre Gates!" He started clapping to himself.

"I've never been so excited! I was just a freelance up until now but I guess my life is finally taking off and... what's the sword for?" Acting confused he pointed at the sword at the stranger's side.