# RP Epic: One Piece Story Thread



## Shin_Yagami (Feb 3, 2012)

Unnamed Crew Goodbyes and ......

Nihongo~ a little over 3 months ago

It was late in the evening, like always around this time and this place two men were drinking tea. One was an elderly man, his dirty blond hair graying and receding but his hat was effectively concealing the worst of it. The cane he had with him at all times might give you the impression that he was losing his physical capabilities, the fact that he had just managed to use it to deliver an ass whooping to his companion, in the prime of his life, without breaking a sweat made it clear that this certainly wasn't the case.

This companion a younger man, if you can call a seventeen year old a man, was covered in grime, sweat, knicks and bruises but seeemed unphased by his disheveled state and was enjoying the rest and hydration after a long day of training followed by the daily sparring session he had his with his master. 

Over the years this has become a daily routine for the two, out of the village kids only this one would be here from the start to finish of Urahara's training sessions but today would be the last time. Shin may not even be close to Urahara's skill level but he should be about ready to test himself out in the world, there was little more that the old samurai could teach the boy. He never was suited for teaching after all, and there is only so much beating sense into a dummy you can do before it becomes just plain old mean.

"That crappy sword won't do you much good" The mentor broke the silence, Shin never had been one for small talk and neither was Urahara if he had to be honest so he never minded, only rarely did his lips pass words directed at Shin that weren't meant to impart some teaching to him.

"Probably." Shin's eyes wandered to the katana he had on his lap, it hadn't been a beauty at it's prime and time and use has wilted away what little it had to begin with. "I'll make do." His glanced over to the cane of his sensei, it laid on top of a trunk together with something wrapped up in the red and white flag of Nihon where Uruhara and Shin's parents were born. The trunk was painted in the design of the same flag.

"I'm not ungrateful, don't get me wrong." Shin began. "But everything I need to begin my quest, I already have." He suspected Urahara intended to give him an actually decent sword, perhaps even more than just decent. "Back in the old country, as you must've done yourself, samurai were set out in the world with nothing more than a cheap trinket made of bamboo and scrapmetal." He pointed at his katana. "We don't have bamboo here on the island, but this here is my scrapmetal and with this I'll get my first kill and named sword."

"Good, good." The sensei chuckled, it was the answer he had hoped to hear. "In that case, I will hold on to this until you can take it from my wrinkled paws." He grabbed the katana held in the flag. "But I want you to take this with you." He tapped against the trunk. "It belongs in Nihon, I suspect you will find your way there." Both Shin and his sensei now looked over to the road, where Date Yagami later arrived and waited for his son. The boy normally made the way back into town on his own but today was a special day after all.

"I better get going." He got up, a little uncomfortable as he wasn't sure how to handle the goodbye between him and his master. Urahara told Shin that he'd leave the next day to his family who already had seen him so little during his time on the island so this would most likely be the last they saw of each other in a long time. 

"I don't need a hug or anything you brat, don't worry." Urahara got up as well. 

"What?" Shin asked with a small smile on his face. "You wouldn't even want a hug from me, I'm hurt." He wasn't much of a hugger or all that good with emotions to begin with and he was grateful his master understood that about him. He wasn't sure how the master felt towards him, but over the years they had been closer than Shin had been with his family so while tears may have been a little extreme, Shin was aware that those less emotionally challenged would be little touched at a time like this.......Oda, however was he going to survive saying goodbye to his parents and that kappa they claimed was his sister?

It seemed a bow was sufficient and Shin returned that of his sensei before grabbing the heavy trunk and heading off to meet up with his father.

"You aren't even going to look inside?" He asked, referring to the trunk.

"Maybe later, why?" He asked. "Something inside that would interest me?" 

"Not now, I think." Was the reply. "Take a look when you know more about yourself and where our people come from." Were his master's last words.

~~~~

West Blue~ over three years ago

"What do you mean it's for the best?" The voice belonged to a little girl, tears still streaming from her face though her sadness had made way for anger and she had been throwing everything within arm's reach against for the last minute or so. It seemed more for show than to actually cause damage, after all there were a pair of revolvers holstered in a gunbelt that would be far more suited for destruction than the cups and plates thrown around. 

"And what if they come looking for me here and you're not here, then what?"

"They won't be looking for you here, because I'll be making too much of a ruckus someplace far away from here." Another girl spoke, still young but older than the other. "They're looking for me, they probably think you're dead so you're safer without me." A sigh followed. "Look, when you're older we can meet up again by then I'll be able to kill whoever any  bastard that tries to come at us, not even damn Don will stand a chance."

The older girl reached to the left side of the younger girl's face, to wipe away a tear trickling down from that green eye. "They'll take care of you here and we'll see each other again before you know it but for now I just gotta get as far away from you as I can, okay kid?"

The younger girl knew she was right, after the death of her father and shitstorm that opened up they had been lucky to have made it out of Deadwood alive. The West Blue mafia were surely going to search under every rock to find the killer of their respected don, if she wasn't sighted in one of the other blues than it would only be a matter of time before those bastards would stumble upon them here eventually.

"Alright, but I'm holding you to that promise!" Her hands went to her hips, resting just above those revolvers of her's. "When I'm older we're meeting up again, so don't you dare die on me or I'll be drag you back from the after life just so I can shoot you myself." The older girl didn't really make much sense of this and it wasn't just because she didn't believe in things like Heaven, Hell or the afterlife even.

"Alright, kid." She gave a tight and long hug to her little 'sister' one the sister tried to milk for all it was worth yet far too soon for her it was over nonetheless. "Take care now." She turned around, a hand went to her own green eye and she started grumbling about dust getting in it as she headed for the door.

"I'll be seeing you Annie, real soon!" The younger girl yelled back, her hand went to her right eye this time to wipe away the moisture forming there below that hazel colored eye. 

"Yeah, it was for the best." Annie seemed to be trying to convince herself of her choice. "With that pair of mis matched eyes, brown and green just like that damn father of her's at the side of the blondgunslinger that had killed the Don together the two would've stood out too much. Annie wasn't strong enough to protect both Lucy and kill that bitch who played her and was now sending mobsters after her.


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## Shin_Yagami (Feb 7, 2012)

~~~

East Blue Capua island~ One month ago

*"Damn, that monster just keeps hanging in there."* A broad shouldered brute complained as he was dragging a bloodied body trough a hallway. Next to him stood a guard, armed with a spear tipped with Seastone. "Hurry up will ya, if he wakes before get him into the seastone shackles in his cell we're screwed."

"I lost two grands on this fuck." A loud thwack was heard, as the brute smacked the unconscious 'fuck'. 

*"Yeah, well me two but we should've known better than to bet against him."*

"The fuck we should, we've barely been feeding him all week, he looked almost ready to keel over by the time we dragged him into the arena."

*"Yeah, yeah."* The guard sighed. *"There's a reason a reason why he's the crowd favorite, but he needs to die in the ring or else we'll suffer a fate for worse than him if the bosses discover that their crowdfavorite died on our watch."*

"We'll try again next match, maybe throw in some ratpoison in his.....What the fuck was that." Screams were followed by what sounded like an explosion, as the glanced out of the window they saw one of the guard towers leveled by some kind of monstrosity but it was too dark to make out what it was exactly. 

"Must be one of the Devil Fighters but then we should've heard something coming from this end, the only way out of the cells is this hallway."
More screams, this time from closeby caught their attention and they turned to the direction they came from. 

*"I'm getting out of here." *The brute tried to make a break for the window but the guard stopped him. 
"Don't be a fool, I've got a seastone tipped spear here." He said. "Any Devil Fruit user is toast when this goes trough them, so no need to risk letting this one escape as well and getting killed for it later." A weird clicking sound was heard, coming closer. "I'll take care of it."

Something came out of the shadows, it's shape barely resembling a human as it had large claws for hands and large red dragging behind it, it's feet seemed to be the source of the clicking sound.

"Some kind of lobster Zoan, I didn't know we had one of those."

*"Fuck!"* The brute, a former sailor knew just how wrong his partner in crime was and how serious the situation was.* "It's a fishman!"* The spear would do nothing against the seadweller, if it could even get trough it's shell. *"We're being attacked by slavers!"* Rather ironic, seeng as how the criminals on this island were involved with slavery themselves though in a different manner. Instead of being involved in the trade, they simply captured Devil Fruit users and let them fight to the death for sport.

"I'm supposed to capture the humans I find inside, try no too squirm too much as these hands aren't suited for holding frail little things like puny humans." The fishman snickered. "Oh wait, three humans and only two claws, that doesn't add up."

Some more screaming followed, then some more sickening crunching. Eventually only the unconscious Devil Fruit user was alive by the time this lobster fishman was done.


~~~~Nihongo~over three months ago

Father and son Yagami made their way home, walking down the dirt road in silence as both were uncomfortable. Shin had always been a distant child, Date loved him deeply but had always been saddened by the fact that he never got to do those things with his son that he wanted, those things he used to do with his own dad a long time ago when he was a kid himself.
Simple things like taking the boy fishing on Sundays, give him advice when it came to dating or even just consoling him after his first heart break. But he was his only son and he would most likely wouldn’t see him for a long time after this, when the boy would come back he would’ve become a man already.

“You mind if we take a seat here?” Date asked, pointing over to boulder that was cut just perfectly to function as a bench. Shin had always suspected Urahara had done so a long time ago, this was the half way mark to the old well where the housewifes used to get water before they had running water on the island. The old pervert probably used to ogle all the women that passed by that mark while sitting on that boulder.

“It’s fine.” Shin was dreading what would come next, out of his parents his dad was the big emotional softie and he wasn’t sure how to handle himself if his dad would get teary eyed and choked up. They sat down and Date took out the guard he kept around his waist. “My dad used to have this gourd.” He began. ”When I was your age, I always used to pester my father about tasting a little…” He sighed as he thought back at the olden times. “You though….I never had to ask why you never did the same though, there a few things that interest you and beyond that you can’t be bothered.”

“I don’t see the appeal.” Shin replied. “You drink because your thirsty, why would you want to drink so you get dumb and clumsy?” He shrugged and while he had been staring in the distance during the conversation, he only just now turned to his father and studied his expressions. “You want me to drink?” He asked uncertainly, he didn’t get why someone wanted this but apparently it meant a great deal to his father.

“No, I know you don’t have any interest in it….It’s alright.” He replied with a sad smile, the two never got how the other’s minds worked. All they knew was that the other’s mind worked very different from their’s. “When I was your age and set out to become a man, my father shared my first drink with me, while I know you don’t care for it, I just would like to sit here for a while with my son and a drink while I still can.”

“Hmm I see.” Shin turned his gaze away again, a repeating clicking noise heard as he drew the katana out of his guard a little and back into position again, over and over in his uncomfortable state.“I don’t mind.” He suddenly said, though still facing away. “Sharing a drink with you, I mean, if that makes you happy.” Only now did he turn to face father. “I wouldn’t mind doing that for you, it would be a special moment for you.” Shin didn’t not voice the fact that he wouldn’t have any particularly strong feelings either way, his father was a good man but he had trouble respecting him. He was so utterly satisfied all the time, while he simply caught fish all day and at nights he’d sit with his family and have a few drinks and he seemed to perfectly happy like that…….Shin couldn’t imagine a more terrifying existence. 

“It’ll probably be the only drink I’ll ever have.”He added. “Be sure to write that down in your diary you baby.” He joked.

“Haha, we’ll see about that.” Though he wasn’t expecting Shin to suddenly grow a desire for alcohol. “I never got to share a drink with my father at my wedding, I’d like to make up for it someday.” Though if Shin would ever get married was another thing, over the years Date noticed that Shin’s eyes did wander if a pretty girl crossed his path, but never really acted upon it. So far he hadn’t met that special girl that could make him forget about his goals and training.

“Ugh!” Shin had taken his first sip of ‘the good stuff’ as his dad called it. “People are idiots, who’d drink this willingly?”

"Haha."Date could not contain his laughter at his son's reaction, so different from him oh so long ago. He too hated the foul taste that burned his throat but in his desire to impress his father he gritted his teeth and claimed to have loved it. 

"It's an acquired taste, this nectar of Oda." Date reached into his pocket and pulled out a pipe. "Perhaps some medicine to wash away the taste and cleanse your body?" He asked his son, offering him the pipe. Nihon's  and it's settlements ways and thinking were outdated and often at times incorrect, one of those believes was that smoking was good for one's health. The coughing it would later cause was a way of cleansing your lungs of filth, some even believed that sinister spirits that caused those ailments were driven out as one coughed. Sneezing caused the same effect, yet it was more pleasant to smoke than to snort pepper which explains why the latter wasn't as popular in the culture.

With some help of his father, he managed to light the pipe and inhale it's contains, a coughing fit followed swiftly. "Fuck....." He managed to eventually bring out. "Not much of an improvement."

"You'll grow to like it, it's good for more than just your body, it does wonders for my nerves as well." The senior tutored. "If mother catches me wearing my slippers in the house, I hide and smoke first and after I no longer fear the pain that is sure to come."

"Blegh." Shin, being in the trying mood already gave it another attempt. He could not say the taste was much better. "It's too fancy for me." He stated. "Old rich men sip at their pipes all day, and a single old fisherman of course, but not a man in his prime like me." As he said this proudly he rubbed an non existent patch of fur on his chin, the Nihonese people rarely grew facial hair. 

"Hmmm good point." Date had to agree with his son, a pipe did not suit him.


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## Shin_Yagami (Feb 9, 2012)

Present time ~ Spade island

The island had just been host to one of the biggest bar fights this side of the Grand line, while he later gained some reinforcements the brawl largely consisted out of a young man, barely a man with his 18 years, versus a large crowd of pissed of bar patrons that ganged up on him.

Despite his age the boy had built up quite a reputation for his raw but fearsome combat skills, it started to look like he was at the point of being overwhelmed by the sheer numbers of his opponents though but before he had to resort to his trump card he got some unexpected help.

A young innocent looking red haired girl, employed at the bar and working in the kitchen there, had saved him from getting stabbed in the back by a rather sneaky bastard and the brawl was then promptly cut short, quite literally, as a swordswoman stood up and cut clean through a bar stool that had been raised in the air and was about to be used as a weapon against Kent. 

"Next time, my sword will cut flesh instead of wood." She had said. "Now let me drink in peace." She had just arrived after a long trip at sea, tired from the many months she has spent being on the move to escape those agents sent after her. She was in no mood for this nonsense, bunch of drunks piling up against a little punk.

"You two didn't have to go out of your way to help me ladies, I was just about to get serious." He sounded confident enough that it seemed like he meant it, then again he actually did mean it. 
"Thanks for the assist though babe." He patted the younger girl on the head, who squeaked in surprise and blushed furiously.
"Same goes for you." This one was aimed at Helen and was accompanied with a wink. 

"Not interested." And with that, Kent was preemptively shot down by lady Swann. 

Kent chuckled, he scooped Hunter off the ground which induced another squeak before her complexion turned an even darker shade of red. He sat her down next to Helen before he joined them at the table. 
"Don't be so quick to turn me down missy, I had been looking for some fiesty wenches to join my crew and you two seem perfect."

"Fiesty wenches?" Helen was not amused but at the same time she was not that surprised, the guy was obviously a fool. "Why is that guys can never look past genders." She gave a deep sigh and moved to seperate either herself from this party or to seperate Kent from his 'fun' parts.

New arrivals though halted her, a trio that had been sitting in a corner and had seemed to watch the event with great amusement before their leader finally made their move.

"I must say, very impressive." God what a snooty accent, Kent visibly cringed as his ears were assaulted by the words that passed this man's snobbish lips."

"If my day couldn't get any worse." Helen sighed deeply. "That's what I get for feeling sorry for a punk, I'll take my leave." She got up. "Whatever it is the two of you are selling, I'm not buying."

"That's a shame." Rek casually replied. "But a swordswoman probably wouldn't want to hear anything about a legendary sword that is said to be hidden somewhere on this island."


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## Shin_Yagami (Feb 16, 2012)

*Shinnie, the beginning of a fairy tale romance*

Unnamed Crew ~ Present Time

?Ew, grannies?? This wasn?t what Shin came to see, two old overweight and gray-haired women in their golden years wasn?t what he expected to come across in a strip club. As they passed him, the swordsman turned his head to take another glance and visibly shuddered at the disgusting images that flashed before his mind?s eye. 

He was so distracted that he didn?t even see he was about to bump into someone, luckily said person did notice and used her free hand to hold him off. ?Eyes forward pall!?  The Demon Gunslinger West Blue barked at the Nihonese boy. 

His head snapped forward as he realized he had nearly bumped into someone, those purple eyes of his had to travel down a bit before locating the source of the far from friendly warning. ?Now that?s what I?m talking about.? The words escaped his cracked lips, dry from harsh weather and long stay on the water, before he realized it. 

He gave her the once over, something that was made easier as she stepped back to escape this human shaped ash tray who smelled as if he smoked a carton a day?.She actually wasn?t that far off.
Pretty blond hair, beautiful green eyes, cute face and just about the right size for Shin, who himself wasn?t that tall, and all of that dressed in some kind of cowboy outfit. He had seen some of those before, with the hat it seemed like it, though those had been men and he didn?t really pay much attention to them at the time but there were some resemblances between their styles. Though in this case, cowgirl was more appropriate.

 ?Now this is what a stripper is supposed to look like.? 
Did he just say what I think he said? Annie nearly choked on the sip she had been taking from her beer. Did he just say I dress like a stripper, this asshole is so going to die. The annoyed look on her face was not lost upon Shin, who quickly raised his hands. 

While Annie?s free hand was inching towards his revolver, the expectation of an apology made her reconsider shooting this guy?.For just a second, this guy had to learn you don?t talk to a lady like that and the sooner he learned, the better. You might even say that she would be performing a public service, after a bullet in the knee, he might think twice about saying that to the next woman unlucky enough to paths with mister smokesalot over here.

Realizing his faux pas, well actually he didn?t, he just realized that he must?ve done something wrong though he mistakenly assumed it was due to his choice of wording . ?Sorry, should I say exotic dancers?? He asked with an innocent voice, utterly oblivious to his mistake. His attention was drawn by middle-aged couple that passed them, two children walking in front of them while a third child sat on the shoulders of what he assumed was the father.

?Oda in heaven.? He was shocked! Disgusted! Appalled! Any more things Shin would have a hard time spelling. ?Who brings their family to a stripclub??

His demise had only been delayed by Annie?s initial shock at his exotic dancer comment, followed by the sudden look of shock and confusion displayed on his face. The expression on the gunslinger?s face quickly mirrored that of the swordsman though.

?Stripclub?? She asked, followed by. ?Look I can?t smell booze on your breath, but since you smell like a chimney that ain?t saying much but are you drunk or just stupid?? She evaluated the figure in front of her, it was hard to think someone could actually be that stupid but this guy sure could express utter stupidity like no other.

 He had some distinct features that told her he had Nihonese blood in him, the messy black hair with it?s just out of bed model fit along with that theory, the big purple eyes that stared blankly out in front of him also darkened the suspicion of him simply being an idiot. The sword strapped to his belt together with the noticeable accent seemed gave her the impression that she was dealing with a samurai.

First time seeing one dressed in a dark purple hoodie, stone washed jeans and a grey pair of dirty and scuffed Winterland boots.
?I don?t drink?? Was replied in a soft voice, he still hadn?t gotten over it yet. ?Well I guess that answers that.? She replied dryly as she took another sip. ?Where the heck do you think you are??

?The Sparkle Sisters stripclub??

?Yeah, try again pal.? A blond head was briefly shaken and accompanied by a sigh. ?This is the Floating Kasu circus, there ain?t no strippers here fella.?

*Smack!*

He facepalmed and groaned deeply, those fuckers, they said they would drop him off at the best Stripclub this side of the Grand Line. It took him a couple of seconds, but eventually he made a realization and his hands shot up in a defensive gesture.

?Oh damn?.? He had some trouble forming the right words. ?Uh?..Sorry?..About calling you a stripper?I mean.? He could get a woman enjoying herself at a circus wouldn?t care much for it. ?You could take it as a compliment?? He tried to sound sweet and innocent but the look on her face face showed clearly that she didn?t take it as a compliment.

?Alright, in my experience whenever I put my foot in my mouth like that a woman is going to hit me.? Another groan was heard. ?So if you really feel like you have to, go ahead and knock me over the head, though it sure would be nice if you could just be the bigger person here?? 
A loud *thud *signaled the end of that sentence, she hadn?t opted to be the bigger person.

?Just to make sure you don?t make a mistake like that again, you strike me as the kind that learns the hard way.? With a wink she passed him. ?Don?t be getting into trouble anymore Mr. Samurai.? She yelled over her shoulder as she walked away.

?Probably better I completely blew it with that one.? Shin mused to himself. ?Can?t help myself from putting my foot in my mouth and she isn?t one to mess around, would be tragic to have my tale cut short by a pissed off gunslinger .? After a quick stop at the concession stand where he bought a coke and cotton candy, Shin decided to check out the performances before looking for a way of this dump.


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## Shin_Yagami (Feb 23, 2012)

Unnamed Crew ~ Present time

*"Wake up!" *The handler didn't even bother trying buckets of water over this circus' biggest 'attraction', instead the chained young man was awakened by a lash from a whip. The exhausted and battered Devil Fruit user crawled to his feet, he lost track of how many times he had to go on today but he should be able to get some rest not much longer now. As hungry as he was, sleep was more needed at this point.

He knew the routine, the cart he was chained to was rolled towards a curtain. The red cloth hid the more depraved actions that went on behind it from the audience, while few would care what happened to freaks and beasts that performed at this circus, there were the young kids and the parents were worried about subjecting their sensitive souls to violent acts that came hand in hand with keeping the performers in line.

This particular performer that was about to take the stage was introduced with much grandeur and hype, after all this was what so many came here to see. A real life dragon, right here out in the blues. This routine had gotten so old that even the performer himself had become unable to fake enthusiasm, even with the whipping spurring him on to do. Like always the crowd fell silent, completely unimpressed at the sight of a chained kid when they were promised a dragon. 

And then with a whipping, the boy was forced to tap into what little strength he still had within him and start changing into the full dragon form that his mythical beast Zoan of the Fire Dragon variant offered. The reactions ranged from shock to amazement but there were also just those that found it all rather unsightly. Vicious cowards beating up on a poor chained up Devil Fruit user and parading it around as that Devil Fruit offered something miraculous. 

"I should probably just get another drink and take off, spent too long here as it is." One of the onlookers mumbled to herself, her fingers dancing on her gold revolvers as she struggled with herself. It was just too damn tempting to whip it out and pump some lead into that dick with the whip, not that she was that sensitive a soul but she didn't care much for a coward acting tough like that while there was no doubt that he'd be shitting himself if those chains came off.

An another that had some issues with what was going on had less reservations about sticking his nose into this. This person had loudly sharing his disgust for this display of cowardice and a rather inebriated member of the audience told him to shut up up or else. Or else apparently meant that the man issuing the threat would be grabbed by the throat and then thrown at handler on the stage.

Things went perfectly fine, the audience got a little antsy when a kid climbed on stage started kicking at circus folk that tried to remove him while he moved towards the chained dragon. It wasn't until he reached the downed handler and demanded his keys that he hit a snag, apparently the handler did not have those keys. Shin glanced at dragon struggling in his binds and those thick chains with multiple locks that kept him stampeding. 

"I did not think this trough." He concluded, he hadn't drawn his sword as the situation didn't call for it yet but even if he did.....What was he supposed to do with it, cutting through all that thick steel wasn't going to happen.

"Oh my." A female commented dryly, as many of the audience members moved away from the scene, this one had gone towards the source of trouble. "The moron that mistook a circus for a stripclub does not know what he's doing, now ain't that a surprise." With a grin she drew her weapons. "I could take care of those chains for you but you do realize what kind of trouble I'd unleash when I do." After all, they'd have a stampeding dragon to deal with.

"Don't worry Gunslinger-chan, letting that damn Devil Fruit user loose and giving him a fair chance at defending himself is all I'm after." The swordsman replied. "About time I get out of here anyways, besides.......Trading in that crappy ship I'd been hitching a ride on for my very own dragon sounds like a good deal to me."

After a dramatic sigh she grumbled. "Me and my big heart, can't help but feel compelled to help suckers like these." Bullets started flying, each accurately colliding into the multitude of locks keeping the dragon chained up. "Damn you Annie, stop trying to save the day all the time."


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## Shin_Yagami (Feb 28, 2012)

Unnamed Crew 

Chapter 1 conclusion

It was of a little surprise that all hell broke lose after the dragon Zoan was unleashed, the chains that kept him from flying away were also positioned so that he couldn't open his mouth. With those chains removed young Steven Brimtale was free to set fire to the stage during his mindless rampage. It all seemed to be done purely on instinct, his future crew mates would learn that the Zoan had trouble controlling his actions when in the full dragon form.

Things fell apart even faster than Annie had anticipated but as the gunslinger, but her plan of retreat was thwarted by that dumb swordsman who claimed the following. "Don't worry, I got it covered." For some reason this inspired little confidence in The Demon gunslinger of West Blue but before she had a chance to voice her objections he had grabbed her by the wrist and with the use of a trampoline the two made the jump on the  the dragon's back.

"I to....Aghh!" It wasn't just *CLANG* noise of steel hitting on bone under a thin layer of skin and some hair that made him stop short of finishing his sentence, the pain that accompanied it was responsible for that. "You don't just grab a lady like that!" As she said this, the pistol whip to the head caused Shin to lose his balance.

Annie saw but made no move to intervene, either she knew that Shin would just barely keep his balance or........

Some curse words in some gibberish that Annie didn't understand were grumbled by the Nihonese kid, there was just something about the tone that made it obvious they were curse words. "Now what dummy?" By now the dragon had made it's way out of the circus tent, the flames had burned a hole big enough for him to get out of but it was now just mindlessly circling around the floating circus. There was nowhere to go, nothing but water all around.

"You're a cowgirl right?" So far Annie wasn't quite sure what he meant by this so she let him continue. "They ride things, ride this baby to an island or something."

"....." By now he knew her well enough to predict the pistol whip that came and managed to avoid it, the kick to shin though was a different matter. "Oda in heaven, you can't actually be that dumb!" Well.....He kinda was. If there ever was a prime example of why you should keep your kids in school, Shin Yagami would be it.

There was a long list of reasons that why that wouldn't fly, literally, but Annie opened with. "How the Hell would you ride a dragon?, how am I supposed to steer it?" 

"Like this." He acted all casual about it, like it was rather obvious to him. He just grabbed hold of one of the many chains still wrapped around the dragon and started tugging at it, it had some effect right away and the dragon changed direction. "So take over and ride us to the next town over." A stunned Annie moved one hand over to the improvised rein but it didn't take long for her to realize that she didn't quite have the physical strength needed for this, when it came to that aspect Shin and Tatsu were out of her league. 

With help from Shin she got some control over the dragon but she had noticed something, the rate at which the dragon had been flapping his wings had been steadily declining and so was the altitude they were at. It started look like the Dragon was running on fumes. As she looked down she saw that the floating circus was well on it's way to burn down to a crisp but dock area seemed safe and those hawkeyes of hers saw that her very own ship was still where she had left it.

"Help me steer it to my ship, this baby isn't going to last much longer." The steering towards her ship wasn't the issue, that part worked out just fine, but they were about half way there when the dragon seemed to be getting smaller and noticeably less active. Before they knew it they were free falling the last few feet instead of flying and they crashed hard into Annie's ship instead of flying over it like she had planned. 

"Ugh." Shin was the first up, he had quite some natural talents. Like the ability to eat his weight in food, the talent to carry up to two swords without hands as long as  he isn't wearing any shoes or socks but the most impressive talent that he had was probably his inhuman durability.

He bounced right up and had managed to set sail on the damaged Cutter, luckily it was mostly to bow of the ship and didn't hinder much with the sailing, by the time Annie was moving around again. 

"Look what you did to my Cutie Pie!" She was outraged, and her mood only got worse when Shin broke out in laughter.

"My Oda, you named your ship the Cutie Pie?" As hard as it was, he eventually managed to string a sentence together. "That's fucking adorable." 

The laughter didn't last long though, Annie's frustration was soon vented out on Shin's skull.


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## Shin_Yagami (Apr 3, 2012)

*Arc 2 

Raid on the Spires*

*Nihonni 
*
*
Public Tower*

Nihonni, the second island colonized by Nihon when the first Nihonese expansion took place. A small island in the East Blue but conveniently located and flourished due to a lot of business coming in from passing trade ships. At a certain point the small community could no longer grow, there simply wasn't enough land anymore, and they started building towards the sky. The three oversized skyscrapers are the end product, you would think that oversized would go hand in hand with a skyscraper but these three were special. 

It was just their height, they were also so wide that they were essentially vertical villages. Each tower served a different purpose, the public tower was held all of the commercial districts and was home to the poorer citizens. The central tower, which was that shortest,  held all of the governmental 'buildings' and held it's very own marine  base. Finally the 'private' tower was basically just the rich part of town with all of the nobles living way up on the upper levels and their servants and workers were employed in the lower levels.

Here at the public Kiya had brought her space treasure, the Spacey she had named Sol, in order to get it fixed. So far it had become capable of movement, all of her hard work at home had gotten her that much, but but beyond that slow zombie like pace it didn't do much and it wasn't uncommon that she had turn it away from a wall after it walked itself into one and just kept trying to push straight trough it. 

Here in the big city, they had the kinds of shops that specialized in technology, and at one of those shops she had left Spacey a few days ago. If all had gone well, she would be able to him back with her today. While it had been fun, seeing as how she had never left her hometown before, she had to admit that she was rather homesick, which started to set in about 5 minutes after she set foot on the transport ship.

Things didn't go as expected at the shop, things were suspicious enough when the shopkeep demanded additional payment due to additional parts he had to order, but when she figured to just give him the money so that she could take Sol home with her, the man suddenly developed an inability to speak anything other than Nihonese and seemed to demand even more payment and refused to let her in the back to check on Sol. 

Eventually the blond sixteen year old was thrown out of the shop. Bumping into a passerby. The shopkeep yelled some curses at her that she couldn't understood but Kiya didn't intend to let this guy get away with this, he was obviously ripping her off and possibly even trying to steal Sol from her. She was about to yell back at him and shake her fist angrily, it would do wonders for her rage and at the moment she had no better plan but she would think of something, or her name was Kiya Asasume!

"Hey, you can't say stuff like that to a little girl!" Whoever she bumped into had understood the man's curses clearly, he had grabbed her by the shoulders to prevent her from falling over and stepped in front of her in some attempt to shield her young ears from the garbage the shop keep was spewing at her, the 'hero' wasn't much older than this 'little girl' though. "You go apologize to this baby girl right now, don't make me kick you ass!" He had a low tolerance for what he saw as ass hole behavior, he wasn't kidding about kicking that guy's ass.

"Hey, I'm not a baby girl....Or a little girl!" She smacked him on the shoulder, it wasn't hard but it conveyed her annoyance. "I'm sixteen already, and you're not even that much bigger than me....Little boy!" She stuck her tongue out and she used her hands to illustrate the height difference, which wasn't that much.Kiya was rather tall for her age and gender, Shin....Not so much and him discreetly standing on toes to sneak in a few inches didn't make that much of a difference. 

"Hey, don't talk down to your savior, it's rude." Little girls, the nerve of them, he was reminded of his own sister......He did not care for her. "Also I'm big where it counts." This got some weird looks, Shin apparently unaware of what he just implied but then again he was he didn't have a dirty mind. "See?" He held out his hands, Kiya and the shop keep's eyes went to the distance between the two hands but Shin was just referring to his hands themselves and their size. "Look how big." He mistook the wide eyes they had for amazement, instead of the shock they truly represented."Yeah, imagine when I grab a sword with these babies." 

It started to make a bit more sense to the onlookers, the shopkeep though was startled by the katana Shin carried. Only the lawmen of Nihonni carried them around these parts. *"Eh, sorry officer, I'll take care of it."* The shopkeep went back into the shop, leaving a confused pair of teens in front.

"Officer?" They both asked the other. "Wait you understood that?"

"That wasn't in Nihonese...."

*A while before*

"Yeah.....That's not going to happen." He had been in the tower's lobby for a while now. People were let in one at a time and submitted to a search and document check. Shin didn't have any documents on him, which wasn't that uncommon, and he also obviously failed the weapons check with that katana he carried. Carrying a weapon also wasn't uncommon, but the combination of both a weapon and no documents meant that you had to turn in your weapons, something he didn't intend to do. 

Katanas were a special case when it came to Nihonni, only police officers were allowed to carry them within the towers. 

"Hey can't you see what's happening here." A man joined the customs officers that had been discussing with Shin. "Look at that face, cleanshaven and just radiating with a passion for justice." As far as clean shaven was concerned, for some reason a beard wouldn't grow on that face of his and passion for justice? Well Shin couldn't quite answer that one, apparently the customs officers was rather charmed by Shin.

"Look at that fit physique and youthfull glow, isn't it obvious." Shin was getting a little uncomfortable at this point,  was this one of those Okamas?

The man lowered his tone as he asked the following. "Are you undercover, Mr. Policeman?" 

"....What?"

"Ah, of course, you can't blow your cover, I feel ya!" A big wink and a thumbs up followed. "Just go on sir, your secret is save with us." Whatever was going on, Shin felt it was best to move away from this man that was making him uncomfortable.

"You know, only police officers carry katanas here..." The first customs officers began. 

"Yeah, duh!" Eyeroll. "Why do ya think I let him go trough."

"Yes, but sir." He had some trouble finding the right words. "But....Then why would an undercover agent carry a katana if he's trying to preserve his cover?"

"......" It took a few seconds, but it suddenly dawned on him. "I have no idea what you're talking about, I didn't see anyone with a katana." After a quick glance to check for witnesses he took off, fully intending to deny ever having been there if he was questioned about it.


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## Shin_Yagami (May 11, 2012)

Raid on the Spires

Nihonni

Docks

Before she had met up with those two morons, Annie had a few moments while she was alone on her cutter ship that she thought it would've been nice to have some company on her journey. There was something about sitting on an ship by yourself for weeks that could drive you insane.
The company of Shin, and the slightly less maddening Tatsu, for the last few days had fixed her of that desire. First they wrecked her poor Cutie Pie, then over the next few days they are all of her rations that would've lasted her months on her own and should've lasted at least weeks with three normal people.

The sight of land had been a welcome one, but before those two would get a chance to sneak away, she warned them that she'd be gunning for them if they didn't first pay for the repairs of her ship. 
No, suprise there, they were both broke. They left after promising to return with some cash, the dragonboy seemed trustworthy enough but Shin.....Well he just rubbed her the wrong way. 

Well first she needed an estimate from one of the many shipwrights found on the island, she was hoping to find one where she could get a good deal so that when/if Shin and Tatsu returned with money, she'd be able to pocket a nice chunk of change. A solid two hours of shopping around and she learned that the repairs would be a lot more expensive than she imagined and she'd be lucky if she wouldn't have to end up having to dip into her own savings. 

This shop she would try next was one of the smaller and less centrally located ones, she hoped that she'd have more luck here. As soon as she opened the door, she realized something was off as the shop seemed empty and dissaray. Curiousty getting the better off her, she headed to the back where she walked in a rather startling scene. A man had been knocked out, presumably the store owner, while someone was making use of the tools and chewing audibly. 

"What's going on here fella?" Her hands were resting on her revolvers, as she looked over this machine of some sorts that appeared to be heavily damaged with large chunks of it's artificial skin missing together with it's frame and every now and then he.....Or would it be more appropriate.... would reach for a hand of screws, nuts and bolts and would go to town on it like he was eating a peanuts.

Private Tower

The lost and confused Tatsu had found his way to this tower, essentially herded here by a group of workers who had mistaken him from a new servant, largely due to his appearance. He never did really get a chance to clean himself up after being freed. With no other ideas on how to make money, he figured he'd just try to find some work there and he quickly succeeded in being employed by a merchant. With his physical strength, he appeared to be well suited to lug wares around and so he spent the next hours carrying sacks of grain from the lower levels of the tower to kitchen of nobles houses found at the higher levels.

It was trough this job, he ended up being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Not for him though, no for a group of pirates part of a massive coordinated attack on this island. Several crews operating in the East Blue had been brought into contact with each other by a mysterious third party who gave them information on the wares and possessions they might find on the island and that there would be a a period with little to no marine presence in the area. And now was the time the raid was planned, with all three of the towers getting attack simultaneously.


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