Journey on the Grand Seas(Whitebrand and Tigra9)

[tigra9]

The maps were pretty much all single island maps, there was very little important routing information to be formed from them, one in particular that had piqued Naria’s interest was an old half complete map of East blue the sea they were in but even as her clone looked at it it didn’t help their current predicament in the slightest. The books were all basic world government information that wouldn’t be much direct help for their journey as even the newest was atleast older then Naria herself. Naria had tried to her best but as a slave to a bastard son she had not been able to access the sections they probably could’ve pulled much more important information from.

It would happen as Naria was crouched next to a berry bush eating one of the blackberries growing in it, a rustle from the leaves and suddenly a blade tip was pressed against the back of her neck “woah hey didn’t mean to intrude these berries piqued my interest” Naria said quickly raising her arms not daring to move beyond that, she couldn’t look back to see the owner of the blade at her neck but she did know she was at the disadvantage, transforming wouldn’t put her shell between her and the blade fast enough… drawing her spear was out of the question aswell ‘is his quake power from inside me really the best option to fight? Ugh I’m gonna be suffering so much afterwards!’ She thought to herself still waiting for the being behind her to say something.. anything at this point!

(I’ll let you play whoever it is, I figure their a resident of this otherwise uninhabited lonely island, up to you for the rest and how they’ll take a strange girl dressed in a swimsuit on their island that shouldn’t be so easily found by any means)

[Whitebrand]

"Oo' sent you?" A gravely voice demanded.

The male behind her moved only slightly, keeping himself out of her peripheral vision. Whomever he was, he knew how to move.

The blade dug into the back off her beck a little, insistently demanding a response.

[tigra9]

Neria frowned at the blade digging deeper when she tried to turn her head “nobody did, I just wandered through the sea and found myself here because I have no clue where I am at” she tried to stand up from her crouched position but feeling the blade just barely start to break her skin she stopped… she wasn’t keen on having her neck pierced “and no I don’t have a boat, don’t need one since I’m a mermaid” she lowered a hand to point at the gills on her side “these and my ears are the physical proof I can show you” she blinked, she was really hating that the guy behind her was good at staying out of her sight but how cautious did he have to be of her? As far as any outsider knows she literally couldn’t be carrying any hidden items except in her cleavage or if it was super tiny her bottoms could possibly hold something

After a moment of silence Naria asked “so can I atleast stand? Holding this position with my hands up is starting to hurt” she really hoped she would be able to, and inside her body her clone was moving her spear to a door opening in her hand preparing to draw it in an instant should she find herself needing to fight back, Naria was not going to go down easy!

[Whitebrand]

"If ah slip this between yer neck bones," he warned. "I turn yew into a head in a stick. Yu wont be movin' fer the rest of yer life. So stand up. Real slow."

He let her stand but kept the weapon on the back off her neck.

"What do the mer-folk want with his rock?" He demanded.

[tigra9]

Naria stood slowly “I’m aware of what will happen if you drive that in further…” as she stood she slowly lowered her arms to her side “as for what I want with this rock… food… I’m alone, don’t have a compass or a map, and came across this island by chance and wanted to eat something besides fish… I’ve had nothing but that for nearly a month now” it was more like a week but the guy behind her didn’t know her backstory but she would motion to the bush “mermaids have a diet that varies about as much as humans, and depending on our breed we actually much prefer stuff that isn’t fish or meat based” she then took a breath to calm herself and spoke “the name is Naria… may I have the pleasure in knowing the name of the man holding me at knife point?” She kept her voice neutral as possible but she was legitimately getting a little scared, if she didn’t find a way to move away and transform quickly enough the man behind her would kill her… she didn’t know what would happen to Rey if she died… perhaps her body would eject him and then he would wake up and… and destroy this place with his power upon seeing her dead body… Naria understood it, his ability to make vibrations… it was the power of a calamity, even sinking islands with nothing more then a single punch would be possible in the future… and that was only one of several his fruit offered him!

Her thoughts immediately turned though to her hometown but she found her worries for it was not as high as her worry about rey… was it because she had told him what her village was and where it was, was it because she knew he could and would free it from Dosun’s grasp someday whether she was at his side or not?

[Whitebrand]

The knife withdrew.

"Turn 'roun," the voice ordered.

The man looked like he had abandoned most of civilization long ago. His face was buried in a salt-and pepper beard. His hair was wild and unkempt. His clothes were in a tattered camouflage pattern. His face was dark, weather-beaten and aged by the sun. His weapon was actually a long knife bound to a short pole that he held with expertise. He also had the same bearing that Rey did...that military straightness.

"How goes the wa'?" He demanded, his voice strained like that of a man who hadn't spoken for a long while.. "Who 'olds 'ese waters now?"

Naria had heard of a big war among the larger islands here. Two decades ago. This man couldn't possibly be talking about that...could he?

[tigra9]

Naria turned around frowning as she realized he was holding a spear which put him in a different way at the advantage over her and he didn’t give his name but at his questions she narrowed her eyes frowning, she barely remembered the news spreading at that time cause she was 4 but she spoke “the Seras kingdom rules under the flag of the world government… if your talking about the war 20 years ago which is the same year the pirate king was executed” she looked at the sky “I was only 4 at the time and my island was spared the direct effects of the war though I was a slave of the Seras kingdom for a time… I escaped them a couple months ago and shook off my pursuers finally about a week and a half ago” she exaggerated the timespan but in this situation she felt it best not to inspire the thought there might be ships anywhere in vicinity of this island since she did misdirect their direction anyway.

Naria finally dragged up the courage and spoke holding her arms out “now as you can see I’m not armed and I can’t hide anything big in my cleavage… so can I please have the honor of your name sir?” Naria was shaking a little but the guy would recognize how she moved her arms to spread them, the starting motion was similar to what one mildly trained in use of a spear would use when bracing themselves for a thrust, an amateurish slip, but one that belied Naria did have more to her then it appeared… after all unless she was unable to swipe a weapon during her escape it only made sense for her to carry something familiar or not… also her eyes wandered over the man with a gaze that was very much the gaze of a fighter sizing up openings, another amateurish slip of honed instincts but she didn’t have any openings to take advantage of at this distance unarmed

[Whitebrand]

"Yer sayin' we won?" He said suspiciously. He clearly wanted to believe her. He couldn't quite make the leap though.

"Can ye prove it, lil' fishie?"

A Seras soldier. Alone on this island for two decades. Unaware that the war he had fought in was long over. No one had come for him.

"Watch yerself," he warned. "I know where yer eyes 'r goin'. I know what yer thinkin'. I can gut ye in a flash. Don't think I won't.

"Who commands the fleet these days?"

[tigra9]

Naria blinked and frowned putting a hand to her face “sorry I’m still inexperienced… as for who commands the fleet I was never privy to that information… I was a slave at the Seras kingdom and my master pretty much required me to stay in his bedroom ready to serve him… the one time I was allowed out I found a chance and escaped to the sea” she frowned “if I’d been able to get at least a compass I may have been able to make it back home by now because I remembered the direction I swam before getting nabbed.” She crossed her arms “hmm proof though, let’s see… if your last knowledge is from 20 years ago then you wouldn’t know the Princess’s name… the kings name is knowledge to readily available to serve as proof I was there at all…” she closed her eyes as she tried to rack her brain for an answer before suddenly snapping her fingers pointing at him and smiling “it’s not information I can give but there is one thing I managed to leave with.. probably the only thing I ever got while I was serving as a slave besides food” she reached into her cleavage and pulled out a cloth, it was wet but it was a handkerchief with the royal family emblem embroidered onto it, something only someone in the palace would have access to. “Here, will this do? I got it exactly three months ago and thankfully it hasn’t been exposed to much water in my top”

The war was one of those types that would likely have left the losing kingdoms in a position where even a single such handkerchief should be nearly impossible for a mere slave to obtain “also that war from what I remember as a child lasted 2 years and ended 20 years ago practically over night… the world government sent 6 vice admirals including the hero of the marines to destroy the other two kingdoms… the rest was resolved within the very week they arrived”

[Whitebrand]

The man's face seemed to crumple with relief at the news. He wiped his face as he started to realize the implications.

"All right," he said. "Ye get ter live. My duty was to guard this place...an' its over. Was over. An' no one remembered. An' why should they? I was the only survivor."

He sat down in the sand, looking every one of his many years.

"Yew go home," he said. "Eat yer fill an' go. If ye meet someone who will listen, tell them Corporal Ghast is still at his post. Waitin'."

[tigra9]

Naria blinked hearing him and frowned “I doubt any will care to listen… I made enemies during my escape along the upper most people of the Seras kingdom” she shrugged “I might aswell be a fugitive against the entire world government in the East blue” she tilted her head and looked back towards the sea for a moment before looking back at him, she felt bad that this man had been left here forgotten for 20 years “do you have family at the Seras kingdom? Anyone that could be missing you or thinks your dead?” She asked, part of her wanted to help him… but if she took him that meant she would be endangering herself and Rey again.

Naria’s clone would enter the room she made for Rey and moved to the side of his bed pulling his covers off before shaking him softly to make him stir “captain wake up, we have something of a predicament outside and I want to discuss it with you”

[Whitebrand]

"I had kin," the older man said slowly. "And a girlfriend. I don't doubt she moved on by now."

Rey woke slowly, his brain tired from a lot of frustrating work. Naria's talent for understatement bought him to a more alert state fairly quickly once he processed the word 'predicament."

"What?" he said as he sat up. "Where are we? Have we made landfall?"

[tigra9]

“I see…” she said to the old man sitting down seemingly going into deep thought

Naria nodded and sat down on the bed “well we did but it’s an uncharted island and I’m lost… but more then that we have an issue….” with that she began to catch Rey up to speed about what had happened since she arrived here and about the old man currently outside of her “….I don’t want to take him back to the Seras kingdom of course, there is no way I’m putting both of us at that risk, but I want to help get him off this island” she then waited for Rey to speak

[Whitebrand]

Rey frowned.

"I agree," he said with a nod. "I'm sure there's are port towns we could drop him off in. We just don't tell him our real names."

He got out of bed and started getting dressed.

[tigra9]

“Well I already told him mine and that I was formerly a slave of the Seras kingdom, and if I take him It would work better if I let him inside me so he will know about my Devil fruit power” she frowned “he can probably already surmise I was the slave of someone important since the only proof I could provide that I wasn’t lying was that handkerchief you gave me” she stood “well I’ll talk to him some more, here so you can listen to us, it’s under my top though so you’ll have trouble seeing” she walked over to a wall of his room and pulled a ring handle that opened a small square window, sure enough it was covered by a black cloth but the sounds from outside including a couple bird cries could be heard.

Outside Naria would finally speak up “may I ask… among the things you’ve been guarding here, Ghast do you have a compass? If you do I might be able to help take you to a port town and get you off this island” she looked down a dark look on her face “I refuse to take you directly back to Seras Kingdom…. I don’t want to go back near there… never again”

[Whitebrand]

"I suppose I can't blame an escaped slave to resent their masters," he grunted. "I have the remains of one. But I'm not an engineer. I don't know how to fix it."

As he spoke he looked out towards the sea...and suddenly held up a quelling hand. Whatever he spotted, it alarmed him. He grabbed Naria's hand and yanked her into the cover of the thicker trees.

A ship had appeared. It wasn't very large or in very good shape. It was clearly a pirate ship, packed with men as it was, but it had been run through a bit of a mill. The hull showed signs of serious strain and the men looked malnourished and desperate.

"Those buggers 'ave been circling around here for awhile," he grunted. "Stripping the other islands around here of everything edible. I guess they decided to finally get on with it here."

He checked his spear and the crude dagger in his boot. He looked at Naria for a moment before handing her his spear.

"Hope you know how to use this," he said.

The ship disgorged three longboats, and the entire crew seemed to be packed into them. A closer look at the men showed that they were practically skeletal, their eyes burning with unnatural hunger. The weapons they had were crude: clubs and very poor quality metal tools that looked like they had been scrounged from a scrapyard. They looked more like feral animals than men.

"Ghouls," Rey said aloud. "Once men cursed with eternal hunger. If they catch you...I'm coming out."

Rey grabbed his hat and coat. With them in place he snatched up his sword and dagger and put them into place.

[tigra9]

Naria frowned “I don’t know how to fix a compass either…” she then blinked as he grabbed her hand and pulled her into the brush and she followed his gaze to the ship and watched it. When Ghast pulled out the crude dagger she smiled “thank you… but I’m only good with a spear” at that she held her right hand up with its palm facing away and brought her left hand up to grab her spear as it emerged and took its normal size “my masters didn’t take this away because I have an ability to store it inside myself…. That said it leaves me completely open to pull it out so if I tried while you held me at knife point I would have lost my head half way through” she told ghast exaggerating how much effort she actually needed so Ghast wouldn’t be as on guard about this absurd ability. She then held her spear at the ready and bent her knees as if ready to leap out which she would almost start to do so… when it was to early and the ghouls were at a range that would just lead to her being surrounded, thankfully a veteran of battle was there to reign her impulsiveness in.

Inside her body Naria’s clone spoke “if I feel in danger I’ll take my hybrid form…. If I fully transform though… come out immediately captain” her eyes gave a dangerous glint “I will be taking out that ship at that point”

[Whitebrand]

"That ship might be our way of getting the old man back to civilization" Try said as he ascended the stairs so he would be close to her mouth. Just an case. "Last resort."

The old man grabbed her shoulder.

"Are ye mad? One against thirty? Stop being stupid and follow me."

Ghast headed inland, to where the forest was thicker.

[tigra9]

Naria’s clone followed him “I can’t tow that in any form but my full zoan form… I might be a good swimmer but I don’t have the mass to drag it otherwise, one of those longboats might work long as their still usable, I can drag that in mermaid or hybrid form”

Outside when her shoulder got grabbed she stopped and frowned “it might be a little tough but I think I could manage somehow..” she said irritated but followed his lead inland anyway occasionally taking quick glances behind them, oh how she wished she could just go straight into her hybrid form, with her back exposed towards the enemy that shell was a comfort. How far would it carry her in the grand line alone though… fate would lay that answer bare later

[Whitebrand]

"Thirty to one," the man grumbled "Not on my watch."

He led her into a part of the forest that seemed to have been almost overgrown with vines. The way he ducked among them, careful not to touch them, suggested that there might be something she couldn't see about them.

Behind her the ghouls seemed to have picked up their trail. She heard howls and excited hooting. The cursed ones were on the hunt.