Arriving in Fuschia Town: Cael's Beginning!

[mrmark5273]

Cael "NoNo" Yuu's makeshift raft made its way to the shores of Fuschia, bits and pieces of waterlogged wood falling away from the edges. He took a rope and a large nail from his knapsack, tied one end of rope around the mast of the raft, the other around the nail, and drove the nail into the warm sand in order to keep his raft in place. Though he figured he could probably find an abandoned boat lying around somewhere, he wasn't about to count on it.

"Ahhhh....no more pooping in the ocean for me..." he said with a yawn. "Boy am I tired. Hopefully I can find a nice tree to sleep under when I get into town. The first thing I need to do, though, is find something to eat. After three weeks of eating raw fish, I need some green apples!"

The boy picked up his knapsack and trudged his way into town, his feet and toes still tingly from sitting down for so long. And so, Cael, a young drifter from Organ Island, made his way into unexplored territory, Fuschia Town!

[hellcats]

The night before had been a crazy one, though a more accurate word would be 'Hazy'. Most of the previous day was clear, come evening the memories get a bit bogged. A mix of pineapple schnapps and hard liquor was probably what did him in, not being much of a drinker himself he wasn't prepared for what happened. One bottle hadn't seemed like much, half way into the fourth bottle and the booze was in full swing, the kind swing you get from a raging Ogre. Wasn't long after that he was face first in the sand, all his fellow crew men following close behind. On any other day this would have been fine, Chris had planned a job for his Chris to participate in. Chris was never known to drink much, or at all when it came to a job the following day. With that logic in place, it was unwise to have wandered over to another side of the beach to pass out. Long story short, he would awake to find his ship missing, with his crew on board. No doubt thinking he was fast asleep in his quarters, like he would have been had he not been unconscious elsewhere.

Hangovers are nature's way of telling you that alcohol is poison. Then again, who gave a damn what nature thought. Chris simply moaned and babbled as he tried to outlast the hangover from hell as it rampaged through his system. Having vomited twice already meant at least his stomach wasn't upset anymore, his head was a different story however. Stumbling through the beach was Chis, cursing loudly every time he stubbed his toe on something that any normal person would have avoided. This being the case, it was unsurprising of him not to notice the pitched nail in the sand, connected to a ragged raft that bobbed in the shallows not too far away. As Chris lazily trudged across the beach, his lack of attention would lead to him stepping into the nail, stubbing his toe, and subsequently tripping him into the sand below. What followed were several minutes of what one would guess as a list of every swear word known to man. This stream of curses ended with the drawing of his weapons and a disturbed maniacal laugh that echoed across the beach. Moments later the offending object, raft and all, were totally obliterated compliments of Lorelei. This was going to be a grand day for Chris.

[mrmark5273]

As Cael was making his way into town, he heard a voice coming from behind him, cursing and yelling like nothing he'd ever heard before. Following were gunshots. Rather than run away, Cael, being the curious young lad that he was, made his way back to the warm beach, where he found his raft in shambles. A man stood by the raft's pathetic remains (not that the raft wasn't pathetic to begin with) with a respectable-sized group of men behind him. They toted guns and swords, and smirks that Cael had only seen from Captain Buggy's crew himself.

"Hey, what the hell, mister? What happened to my raft!?" Cael screamed at the top of his lungs, not really in anger, just frustration that his only means of transportation had all but disintegrated. The boy stood there with a mean expression on his face, though. Someone just passing through would think that he was ready to kill.

Out of nowhere though, the grim look left his face, and he plopped onto the sand. From his knapsack, he took a small orbicular object wrapped in green plastic wrap. He held it up for the man to see before unwrapping the plastic.

"My last rice ball..."

He quickly consumed the food and then asked:

"You guys are pirates...aren't you?"

And Cael just sat in the sand, staring at the man and waiting for a reply.

[hellcats]

The yelling took him by surprise, deep down he knew the raft was owned by somebody, but he didn't expect to run into confrontation so soon. What surprised him more then anything was who the raft apparently belonged to, a half pint teenager of all things. Kids today were setting out to the oceans allot younger then in his days. "Maybe next time you should," his words ended as he saw the kid who had been shouting pull something out, taking into account the kid's anger Chris just as quickly drew his Souba for good measure. As he went to step forward however he took notice of what sat in Cael's hand, that being a small round object wrapped in paper. As Cael at the rice ball Chris could only think, what's this kid's deal anyhow...

It was as Cael mentioned something regarding pirates that Chris realized he wasn't alone with the boy. There, standing not far behind himself, were a collection of ragged looking men wielding every assortment of death dealing tools one could imagine. I must have been really messed up not to notice these fools. "Fancy looking toy you got there friend, mind if I try it out," asked one of the bigger looking fellows among the men who had collected around the beach. Generic pants and shirt stained from who knew what, the man seemed had an air of superiority about him. Though this could have simply been body odor, Chris' migraine was really messing with him right now. "So what do you say pal? You wouldn't turn me down after I asked so politely right?" Chris looked him dead in eyes, a blank stare as he ran the request through his mind for a moment. "Friend huh," Chris questioned in a skeptical tone. "I gotta say, your by far the ugliest friend Ive got. Must have been really plastered last night to make friends with a wretch like you." Oh yeah, real smooth.

[mrmark5273]

Cael looked at the man, the expression on his face completely blank. As he swallowed the last bit of the rice ball he said, "Listen mister, I gotta get off of this island eventually, and you just tore my raft to high heavens, and I sure as hell ain't got any Beri. So whaddaya say, help a young, aspiring chef out, eh? Hahaha."

Cael knew that this was risky. The pirate leader could kill him at a moment's notice, but there was no way that he was going to be stranded here for the rest of his life. He hoped that the man would have some compassion for him and give him a boat rather than a bullet, but nothing was certain yet.


"I left home a few weeks ago. I used to live in the woods, all by myself. Then one day, I realized I wasn't happy, so I just left. I know that really doesn't mean anything to you, but what I'm trying to say is that I'm harmless. I really don't even know how to use THESE things,"

He lifted up his shirt and jacket to reveal two identical combat knives attached to the belt loops of his jeans, steel blades with green handles. They seemed new, save for a blood stain on the right knife.


"So if you would be so kind as to leave me a small boat, I would really appreciate it. I'm sure you can spare it, right?"

There WAS a hint of arrogance in the boy's voice, but for the most part, he was just in need of a way off the island...

[hellcats]

A chef? His thoughts lingered on the idea of having a young chef in the crew as he looked over his shoulder at the young boy. He wasn't interested in the kid's sob story involving some woods and the like, nor did he pay much attention to the way he showed off some butter knives hanging at his waist. The boy though was a chef, and apparently freelance. All he needed to know really. "That raft was a piece of a crap kid. You come be my ship's cook and you'll earn yourself enough to start your own damn restaurant. Deal?"

With all this going on, the man who had been insulted by Chris only a moment ago had already rallied up the others around him. Several guns were drawn, along with various sharp objects of every size. Things weren't going to go peacefully for Chris, and by proxy the young witness who sat dumbfounded in the sand not too far off.

"Kill this bottom feeder and strip his corpse," one of the scrawnier individuals screamed. A loud uproar following as several misplaced shots were fired at Chris while several of the blade wielding men advanced on his position. Looking over at the small boy still sitting in the sand, he quickly shouted out to him as he aimed Lorelei into ground before him. "Close your eye's shrimp!"

A ringing noise deafened out everything else but the thoughts in his head, a spear embedded in the sand not five feet away. He wasn't sure if the kid had listened to him, but either way they were leaving this area and fast. Having taken off towards the kid, he gripped the right side of his shirt and lifted him to his feet as he continued running at full speed. If the kid bothered to keep up it meant Chris would be having himself nice meals for now on, otherwise the kid was just gonna be another statistic when the blinding effect on the pirates wore off.

[mrmark5273]

Cael was startled by the sudden feeling of being dragged along across the warm sand. When he opened his eyes, he realized that it was the unnamed man he'd met minutes ago pulling him along.

"Hey, old timer, let go! I can run just fine by myself!"

He smacked the man's hand away from his shirt and began trotting behind him. He hoped to God that this pirate crew was nothing like the one that had invaded his home. It seem now, though, that Cael didn't really have a choice in the matter...


"Listen, mister, I only need a ride to Roguetown, got it? But, in any case, my name's Cael, but you can call me NoNo"

As Cael jogged behind him towards the boat, he couldn't help but wonder about what kind of people the crew would be. Would they take over entire cities of innocent people like Buggy? Or would they only pillage other pirate ships. He figured it would be the former, but the alternative seemed much more just. Cael didn't wait for the man to reply to his first question. Instead what he said to the man was:

"Are there any green apples on board, old timer?"

[hellcats]

Roguetown? Apples? Old timer....

"Listen kid, I'm not even in my forties so don't you go calling me old!" Before he could speak further a large battle axe flew between the two and plunged into the ground several feet ahead. Coming to a full stop, Chris noticed a chain wrapping around the weapons handle leading back behind him. More then likely belonging to the people he had just blinded. "Move!"He didn't have time to explain, he himself having no real proof behind it. But after seeing the weapon land in front of him, when it could have just as welled stabbed him in the back, he had a realization that it wasn't meant to have hit him.

The chain lost its slash while Chris dodged to the far right. The large weapon hurdled backwards towards Cael as it's owner pulled back the chain. Two large blades were fitted on both sizes, roughly two feet in length and practically six inches thick. The mammoth weapon could have very well doubled as a bludgeoning tool then a chopping one. Though it was very heavy, possibly ranging between 60-80 lbs. by the look of it, the weapon was being swung about with little effort. As it landed in the hands of the group's leader, it was apparent the blustering fool was at least somewhat skilled. "Run while you can kiddies," mocked the axe wielding pirate as he began to spin it over his head, readying for another toss.

[mrmark5273]

"Listen, guys, can't we all just get along?" Cael said, nervously fiddling with his pants. A bead of sweat dropped down from his hairline as he began scanning the area, searching for the easiest way out. It seemed that the man was dead set on killing them at this point. Thoughts raced through his mind faster than a speeding Panda Shark. He thought of home, of Uncle Poro, of all the green apples he hadn't eaten, and of how hopelessly obsessed he actually was with green apples.

"Die!" The boy screamed as he threw a combat knife he'd taken quickly from his belt loop into the man's forehead. He crashed to the ground seconds after, his weapon falling to his chest and piercing his stomach. It seemed as though Cael had diverted the pirate's attention from his waist by talking so that he could take a knife from his belt loops...

After taking the knife from the man's head, Cael looked at the other pirates, weapons drawn, but apparently stunned that a mere teenager could perform such an act. "Hehe, lucky shot...RUN!!!" He turned tail and began sprinting away, hoping the unnamed man was behind him. He didn't know where he was going, he just wanted to escape from any danger.