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Post by Siren Rei on Nov 26, 2014 19:13:28 GMT
The sky was black with thick storm clouds above the usually calm East Blue waves. Strong winds threatened to rip sail from mast, and bolts of lightning struck dangerously close to the mast. The Soggy Flake rocked atop the ebbing water, the large galleon weathering the storm as best she could.
A girl in light green attire stood near the ship’s imposing captain, adjusting her cap in order to shield her headphone from the falling rain.
“Captain, I helped furl the main sail like you ordered. Further instructions, sir?”
The tall man in blue stroked his snow-white facial hair without turning to face the young deckhand. He stared out at the mass of dark clouds with stern eyes.
“Just let the ship weather the storm and listen to any further requests the crew might have. You’ve done your bowl’s worth for the Soggy Flake. Cheerio, lass.”
Rei shook her head in disgust, glad that the old geezer wasn’t facing her. She walked toward one edge of the main deck and muttered beneath her breath.
“The hell is he always going on about with the stupid cereal stuff? I’m gonna be sick…”
An unseen power echoed from the girl’s mouth and resonated with her voice’s natural sound waves until it entered her ears and immediately made her stomach sicker than it had ever felt before. She sprinted the remaining feet to the side of the ship, leaned as far out as she could without the storm gusts pulling her out into sea and let loose a mouthful of vomit.
“Aw damnit, come on. This fruit makes zero sense, what am I supposed to do with it? My own body doesn’t know how to-“
Her self-monologue was interrupted by another bout of seasickness, the remainder of what she had for breakfast and lunch spilling wastefully into the raging ocean. Rei pulled her cap tighter onto her head and mockingly sobbed to herself as she hung over the wooden railings.
“Why meeeee?”
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Post by Ahab on Nov 26, 2014 20:20:54 GMT
Settled in the crow's nest atop the mast, a feminine outline flashed white in the inky and wet darkness. Water droplets crashed, but for all their ferocity they couldn't mask the clap of thunder which resonated across what felt like the entire East Blue. It wasn't for a lack of trying, meanwhile the heavenly spray persistently nipped at the woman's eyes. Good thing she had warned Cap'n Crunch of the extent of the storm, otherwise the crazy old kook might have never furled the mast. He was such a mess. With the type of fated surgical precision that splits apart particles, another bolt crashed down within a meter of the mast pole. "Too close... this isn't a good place to be right now." she said, unable to hear herself through her hands which were clamped around her throbbing ears like a vice. With sudden and sure movements, she grabbed the rope and shot down to the main deck like a bullet, the wind throwing off her trajectory some. She landed on both feet by another girl in light green blowing similarly colored chunks off the port bow. Letting the rope free, Ahab felt her own face tinge with green as she stared. "Hey, are you..." was interrupted by a small heave, followed by "...all right?"Recognizing her as one of the new recruits like herself, she could tell the poor girl had it rough. Sympathetically, Ahab rubbed a hand on her back, but as planetary alignment would have it, the girl bent forward at the same time for another round of heaving and the ship rolled heavily to the left, so what would have been her first friend fell into the ocean and drowned in her watery grave. Nearly.But not this time! Before the sickly girl had even fallen five feet off the side of the ship, a basic hemp rope had encircled her right ankle tightly and began hoisting her up in gradual steps. When she finally climbed over the railing, she was met with a blubbering scrunched up sobbing face and a snug embrace. "I THOUGHT YOU WERE A GONER!! Guhuhuh!" After a moment and realizing she got a little carried away, she let go of the girl and took a few apologetic steps back. "Seriously though, don't you even know to stay clear of the railings during storms?! Goes against basic sailing 101. That's how you drown, dumbass!! Well, on second thought..."
She deliberately paused, scanning the nearby deck for an emblazoned C, "...this is probably the Captain's fault since he doesn't teach us anything but the nutritional values of his damn cereal. So don't put too much thought into it, okay?" |
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Post by Siren Rei on Nov 26, 2014 22:01:31 GMT
First there was rain and lightning and wind. Then there was a barely audible voice to her side and a gentle touch on her back and a shocking lurch of the entire ship. Lastly, there was tumbling over the rails and a terrifying free-fall and a sudden sharp tightening around her ankle to prevent her certain doom in the salty depths below.
Rei could hardly comprehend the situation as she was suddenly pulled into the strong arms of her savior, then quickly released and lectured about standing near the ship’s edge and some other stuff she couldn’t even hear over the sounds of the storm and the adrenaline-pumped blood rushing through her hears.
Oh dear lord, her of all people? That was the cute recruit she had been hoping to meet and leave a good impression on. Instead their first encounter had involved Rei barfing then nearly drowning over a slight nudge. Stupid captain, stupid devil fruit powers, stupid storm…
The first tiny teardrops formed in her eyes but were rendered invisible by the rain pouring down on her face. She shakily found her footing to stand before finally speaking.
“I-I, um, don’t mean to scoff in the face of my savior, but I wouldn’t have fallen on my own. And of course I know the danger of being here in a storm, but I wasn’t going to…be seasick in the middle of the deck for everyone to see. “
Rei removed her cap before a burst of wind could knock it off and wiped salty raindrops from her amber eyes.
“You’re right about the captain being a piece of work though. Can’t wait to get out of here…you didn’t hear that though. Thanks for the rope. I’m Rei.”
She extended a hand forward before a puzzled look crossed her face. She was sure a rope had been what saved her life, but now there was none to be seen…
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Post by Ahab on Nov 26, 2014 23:34:53 GMT
When Ahab made eye contact with the girl's bright eyes, taking in her young features, she attentively noticed a faint puffiness and reddening. Was she crying? It was hard to discern anything with all that was going on, even for Ahab, but she saw something in those eyes. And it wasn't just sadness. "Hey, hey... don't even mention it, buddy!" She chirped with a sudden upbeat cheer and coy smile. "Seriously. Don't. I don't want people mistakenly thinking I tried to kill you! I totally just saved your butt! Good thing it's a light butt or you'd be having your last drink right now."
Without hesitation, she firmly grasped the girl's outstretched hand and relaxed her mouth into an open smile, noticing a strange pensiveness surfacing on the girl--...Rei's face. "Uh, what rope?" she asked with the feigned innocence of the world's greatest actor. She just had to fuck with her, powerless to subdue her naturally mischievous inclinations. "Ahab! As in, A-hab a sudden urge to jump overboard and take my chances with the salty mistress o'er staying on this dumb ship. Anyone with a lick of sense has caught on by now... we've been circling along this same route for days now!!"
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Post by Siren Rei on Nov 27, 2014 0:01:51 GMT
Rei bristled a bit when Ahab restated the fact that she had saved her life. It was still her fault in the first place. And now she was being difficult about the rope. Her smile became tighter and more forced, but she tried not to let the emotion spill out into her voice.
“Well it certainly wasn’t your hand that stretched far enough to grab me, and it sure didn’t feel like skin or any other material.”
Crap, the longer she looked at the girl the harder it became to stay mad. Rei really hoped to turn her into a friend and ally rather than form a rift between them so soon. Her other free hand clasped Ahab’s, turning the shake into a lock on both sides.
“See, you know how much better life on the sea could be too. I’ve been saving money for months for my very own ship to start my own crew. You have to…”
She caught herself mid-sentence. What if she accidentally let loose a piece of her power again by being too demanding? She wasn’t even sure how it was triggered or how to turn it off. She had to word it differently or else risk forcibly recruiting a disloyal companion.
“Would you like to join my crew when I get the ship? Even if it’s to just get away from here, I’ll take you anywhere you want!”
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Post by Ahab on Nov 27, 2014 0:38:39 GMT
A few scattered hands were still on deck, lingering at the other side of the ship. The ambient noise of conversations fused with the charged and ominous air. After Rei offered her take on the rescue, Ahab flippantly remarked "Huh. Weeeeird." She could tell Rei was ready to dismiss what had happened, so she followed suit and dropped it. However, just when it seemed like things had smoothed out... “See, you know how much better life on the sea could be too. I’ve been saving money for months for my very own ship to start my own crew. You have to…”Pause. Ahab toyingly coughed to fill the silence. Well, whatever silence there is in the middle of a raging thunderstorm. “Would you like to join my crew when I get the ship? Even if it’s to just get away from here, I’ll take you anywhere you want!”Just then, chills erupted up Ahab's spine. She diverted her eyes to the helm where Cap'n Crunch was standing, his leathery face craning toward the two. She darted her eyes back to Rei, subtly shivering. Cornflakes from this morning's breakfast rumbled deep within her stomach with discomfort. "Well... I dunno, Rei. Are you sure you want me? We just met. And you say 'my crew', but where's this crew? Don't tell me you don't even have a first mate!" Her face showed no effort to conceal the doubt, after all, to leave a crew without permission from one's captain was unforgivable. There was no telling how Crunch would react, he was already brooding and unpredictable as it was. Yeah, life on the Soggy Flake was pretty lame, but it wasn't so bad--after breakfast, Ahab always felt inexplicably invigorated and healthy. Then again... this wasn't about unhappiness of body, it was about unhappiness of mind. Decisions, decisions. Closing her eyes, she stood for a moment and inhaled deeply before opening them again and resting a hand on Rei's shoulders. "Two conditions, Rei. Just two." She held her other hand between them with two fingers up, then closed one. "One: you make me your First Mate and quartermaster. Hate to admit it, but I'm not always good with authority, so at least being second in command gives me some independence." Raising the other finger, she added "Two: we kick some World Government ass. I'm not going into detail, but let's just say I have a bone to pick with those Marine bastards... moreso than the average pirate. If you can agree to these terms, yes, I swear I've got your back... 'Captain' Rei!" |
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Post by Siren Rei on Nov 27, 2014 1:42:44 GMT
Captain. Captain. Captain…
Rei’s cheeks tinged a slight red, and her eyes illuminated like the bolts of lightning crashing around the ship as the adrenaline of hearing that word used to describe her coursed through her veins. She always knew it would feel so right! Her arms instinctively snaked around Ahab and squeezed.
“Deal, First Mate! I have issues with the government of my own and would love to fight with you. More importantly, the more of us there are, the faster we can buy a ship! This is going to be so awesome, the world will be ours in no time.”
She released the victim of her vice grip and skipped happily in a tiny circle, the roaring winds and torrential downpour hardly affecting her anymore. She pumped a fist into the darkened sky.
“One Piece is not just a dream! Ahh, my heart is going to explode.”
Her hands suddenly clenched her chest as her pulse suddenly quickened tremendously for seemingly no reason. Heh, woops, now all she had to do was avoid killing herself with her own power before she figured out how to really wield it…
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Post by Jack on Dec 2, 2014 15:47:26 GMT
Jack awoke to the feeling of cold, wet water dripping from the ceiling onto his head and a set of cuffs wrapped against his wrists. “Time to switch,” muttered a voice from behind the door immediately to his right. “Finally, felt like forever in this rain,” said another voice before the creak of what Jack assumed to be a wooden chair signaled the strangers departure and another creak signaled the start of the new guards shift. From where he sat on the floor, Jack couldn’t really make out much of what was happening outside that would help him identify where he was, but from what he could tell by where he was sitting, he had to be on a ship. “Well obviously I’m on a ship you idiot,” Jack mumbled while fighting the fatigue that accompanies someone who has been out for a long period of time.
“Shut up in there,” shouted the guard as he shifted in his seat to get a quick glance at the prisoner. “Ah, my apologies. Didn’t mean to disturb you! Asshole…” Jack gave his friendliest smile as the last word left his mouth and turned his attention to stretching. He made it a point to let out a grunt with each stretch that he performed, stopping twice to give an apologetic glance to the now standing guard. “I told you to shut u-.” The guard moved closer to the thin, wooden cell door to get a better look at the prisoner inside. “What are you doing?”
Jack looked up from a dark corner in the cell and gave his friendliest smile, “On a scale of one to ten. I’d have to give you about a two or three on piecing things together.” Without much thought to what would happen next, Jack flew across the room and kicked the door off its hinges. Unfortunately for the guard behind the door, the kick launched him and door off the side of the ship into the chaotic sea below.
“Well, that’s one problem solved.” He moved towards the now missing door and looked outside. The first thing he noticed was that they had put the holding cells on the back of the ship with the door facing towards the ocean. “Who the fuck does that?” The second thing he noticed was that the weather was getting to be pretty bad and the sound of his escape had been muffled by the wind and thunder. “Which is the reason why I’m not being attacked by people with swords, guns, arrows, fire, some weird power, a dog, a canon, a pointy object, or being drowned in some sort of shallow b- I need to focus on the situation at hand.” He moved outside and crept around the back of the ship for a couple of minutes before finding himself looking at a bunch of people doing what he assumed people on ships did. “For a man that lives to repair these things, I should really get hip with the lingo. Hip with the lingo… The fuck am I? 97?” He gave a sound of disgust, adjusted his clothing, and strolled into the open. So long as I make it hard to look at my face, I should be fi-.
“Who the fuck are y-.” Splash.
“Not a bad plan, it just would have actually fucking worked if you were just dressed like a fucking pirate you weird suit wearing bastard,” he angrily whispered to himself as he moved back into hiding. “New plan. Just fucking hide.” Before he could turn and go find a dark corner to hide for the next unknown amount of time, he began to listen to an interesting conversation on hand placement, crew making (which was pretty adorable to watch from where he was hiding like the creep he felt he would be labeled as if anyone discovered him), and the potential for a blossoming friendship.
“So this is the part where you kiss in the rain right? Shit gets all hot and heavy. Crew starts throwing Beri’s like we need it to rain even more than it is now. Hmm… I totally said that out loud didn't I? Maybe they didn't hear...” He picked up the medium sized box he hid behind and slowly began creeping back to where he had come from.
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Post by Siren Rei on Dec 3, 2014 19:57:07 GMT
Yes, he had said all of that out loud. No, he had not been fortunate enough for at least one of the girls not to hear him. Rei had keen ears to go along with her vocal prowess, and her cheeks burned at the man’s parting words. She cupped her face in both hands to hide it.
She turned to see the male skulking away from them. How dare he say such a vulgar thing?! Not that the thought hadn’t ever crossed her mind, but…not like this, it was way too quick! She cleared her throat with a cough into her fist.
“You, stop right now!”
Whether her devil fruit powers had activated or the guy was just intimidated, he froze just as she commanded. On closer inspection as he turned around, Rei determined that he wasn’t too bad-looking himself. It was quite nice to be surrounded by all these attractive people after being stuck with a crazy old captain and his gross crew for so long.
“Hey, wait a second, I’ve seen that face before. You’re the guy who’s been in the hold since we picked you up a couple days ago. Get over here and I won’t rat you out. Yet.”
Rei stroked her chin and grinned impishly. This could be yet another fortunate turn of events for her future plans.
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Post by Jack on Dec 4, 2014 0:06:36 GMT
“Life doesn’t get any better than this,” he whispered to himself as he turned towards the two women. I doubt I could incapacitate them quick enough to not raise any alarm bells, so I might as well see where this takes me. Jack gazed absently at the ocean behind the two women and sighed. If worse comes to worst, I could always see where that route takes me. Although, it’d be a bitch to do it during the storm. Meh, either way… His gaze turned towards the one that had called him from his hiding space. I won’t be going overboard without a few people joinin’ me.
“… You’re the guy who’s been in the hold since we picked you up a couple days ago. Get over here and I won’t rat you out. Yet.”
“Well, I may or may not be that intelligent, handsome, strong, courageous, and intelligent young lad who was captured by you honorless rapscallions. There’s-.” For a split second, his gaze shifted away from the girl and his face reflected that of a person in deep thought. Rapscallions… Ninety-Seven sounds about right. Just as quickly as his gaze departed, it returned.
“Wait a second… You said yet? Care to tell me what you mean?” Abandoning the plan of conning them into believing that he was a part of the crew almost immediately, he settled for the option of probing the young lady for information.
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Post by Siren Rei on Dec 11, 2014 1:51:49 GMT
Rei tapped a finger to her chin as a devilish smirk spread across her lips. So this was the prisoner. She never understood why the stupid old man decided to throw him into the hold instead of putting him to work or even offering him a spot on the crew. No honor among thieves, but usually captains were willing to take any help they could acquire.
"Well you're going to get caught sooner or later. Captain will never set anchor near an island until he makes sure you're locked up. But I think we can present you with a much better proposal."
She paced on the deck, tracing a half-circle in front of the young man as the rain continued to pound away at the wood floors. One of the promises she had made to herself when she decided to become the captain of a pirate crew and reaffirmed when she gained her devil fruit power was to never force anyone to stay with her. Threats or bribes would never lead to a strong, loyal crew.
"When Ahab and I finish collecting the funds, we're buying a ship and getting as far away from this crew as we can. If you agree to help us with the money and sail the ship to a safe island, you can do anything you want after that. You can head off on your own and continue doing...whatever it was before we picked you up, or you can join my crew."
Her cunning grin softened into a genuine smile.
"I'm going to be the king of the pirates, after all. It's a pretty good investment to be a founding member of the ruler of the seas' ship."
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Post by Ahab on Dec 12, 2014 0:53:08 GMT
"If anyone's going to be powerful and treacherous enough to be the Pirate Queen, I'll plunge them off the steps as I climb the ladder and attract the attention of the marines and World Government! I'll even flip this entire world upside down if I have to." Ahab's shoulders relaxed with a shrug as she settled down. "Guess it's a good thing you said king, tomboy, or we'd have to settle it one day... still, who knows, maybe we will...!" With that dramatic yet teasingly whimsical implication, she spun herself a full 180 degrees, thoughtfully pushing her finger against her lower lip. Her mind was filled with wonder at the adventures that lie ahead. Her first REAL and meaningful journey in a long, long time was about to start. Now she couldn't keep herself from shivering with anticipation... or perhaps that was just the wind chill. It was cold, rainy, and windy after all. |
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Post by Jack on Dec 16, 2014 23:50:38 GMT
The important thing he took out of this conversation with the two women was the promise of a way to get off this damn boat. He took a moment to take in his surroundings and weigh the options. Who knows how long it’ll take for them to get enough beri to afford a ship… At least this option actually provides a ship… Meh, not like I have anything else to do. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and opened them again.
“Sounds like a plan. Miss Dramatic and Miss K-O-P, you have my undivided loyalty for however long it takes us to reach a safe island.” He sat against a wooden box and yawned.
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Post by Siren Rei on Dec 17, 2014 0:16:41 GMT
W-What?! Was her newly appointed first mate planning a mutiny already? Oh, well as long as her wrath was directly solely at the navy and the government then things should work out fine. But still, getting all technical about the title she used...
"Obviously I'll be a queen! But everyone refers to the title as King of the Pirates after Roger, so I was just conforming to that. Anyway, that's not important, we can settle it later if it ever comes to that, just as you said!"
Pirate King and Queen though...ah, no, what was she thinking!? She could never share her rule equally with anyone except as subordinates, and she barely knew this girl anyway! She shook the thoughts from her head and returned her attention to Jack.
"Welcome aboard then, uh...you haven't given us a name yet. You can call me Rei for now, unless you want to skip straight to Captain even before I get my ship."
The girl winked at each of her new compatriots as the rain continued to pelt them. She couldn't wait to see the look on Captain Crunch's face when her fully formed crew crushed him like the worthless fool he was.
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