Journey on the Grand Seas(Whitebrand and Tigra9)

[tigra9]

Naria seeing the frown spoke “your wanted posters will have it eventually so he would’ve found out when we cross paths with the marines and this helps smooth things out faster” she commented and looked at Ghast as he answered about what they were guarding and she looked around “do you atleast know where whatever you were guarding is in this base?”

She wanted to ask where the armory was too but she had a feeling that no longer contained anything useful to her so she stayed quiet about it

[Whitebrand]

"In th' vault underneath," Ghost answered promptly. "Captain 'ad th' key. Got et by a Sea King. Bad way to go."

[tigra9]

Naria hearing about the key now had one of her wonders answered about why Ghast never looked at wha tit was he was supposed to be protecting… strangely she also felt something drawing her in that direction, though she had actually been feeling that there was something here pretty much since she arrived, like there was something that wanted her specifically to find it.

Rather then stay silent though she commented “eh a sea king stomach isn’t actually all that bad, they take Forever to digest anything long as it can stand being in water during the time they are in there” she had closed her eyes with a shrug and slight grin on her face.

(I figure the Kirin fruit doesn’t do it but the four symbol fruits have a sense of attraction that gives their users kinda like an instinctive sense of “there is something nearby” when their close enough to another symbol fruit or fruit user.)

[Whitebrand]

"Yeah, well, whatever the right of it, it's gone."

Rey looked at Naria. Both of them had enhanced strength. Perhaps one of them could force the lock or vault or whatever it was.

"Well I think you're owed a look at whatever it is," Rey said.

"Whatever it is, it's yers by right," the old man said.

"Let's take a look then, shall we?" Rey said.

The place had been a building designed to blend in with the foliage. Over the years nature had made steady progress in covering it further. Ghast had, however, kept it from creeping inside. The building was worn but still servicable...much like Ghast himself. His military discipline had kept the place in order, so the staircase down was clean and unobstructed.

Along the way they coykd see that the old man had perfected the art of drying fruit and drying meat for preservation. He had plenty of stocks and a water source. No wonder he had survived in such good health.

[tigra9]

Naria saw Rey’s glance to her and waved a hand “I’m to tired, let me rest then we can go look”

After a 10 minute power nap Naria would shift her tail back into legs and stand up following Rey and Ghast into the deeper parts of the base, noticing the well stocked of a bit basic rations she smiled, her cooking later was going to be like heaven for Ghast, and she could use some of these dried rations for it too. Once they reached the underground section of the base she stared at the vault, walking over she banged her hand on it and frowned at the medium size door set into the wall “hmm 10 inch solid steel sheets overlaid” she sighed looking around the room they were in “well I can’t go full zoan…” she hmmed looking at the relatively small lock and placed the point of her spear in it holding it “Rey kick the butt of my spear in your full zoan form just like a horse would” she then gripped her naginata in both hands shifting to her own hybrid form ready to time a thrust with the kick, they weren’t really getting through the wall itself without risking severe damage to the floor above them but if they just tore up the lock…

[Whitebrand]

Rey nodded and set aside his hat. Before Ghast's eyes he morphed into a beautiful cross between a hold-scaled dragon and a magnificent horse. His fiery mane lit up the room and his hooves seemed to spark on the stone floor.

He had to position himself rather carefully for the kick. Too hard or a mis-aim could have bad consequences.

Ghast just stepped back and stared. Not one but two zoan fruit users. A person might be lucky to see even one in his life. Now two?

"I hope yer spear can't break," he said.

Rey kicked.

The sound of metal crumpling was ear-shattering. The lock was utterly destroyed, reduced to its component parts.

Rey let Naria do the honors. He remained in his zoan form just in case.

[tigra9]

Naria smiled “at the very least the blade is unlikely to” Naria responded to Ghast thrusting right as Rey’s hoof struck the butt of her spear their combined boosted strength destroying the lock, as she pulled the blade away she ran a hand along the side of it, there wasn’t even a nick in it

After a brief examination though she held it out for Rey to take before reaching her hands as best she could into the hole made and pulled. Two things of note were that Rey would notice the naginata was actually pretty heavy, he could hold it pretty easy but the strength needed to wield it was definitely superhuman. The second thing was that it took quite a bit of strain for Naria to pull open the vault door “damn… this thing… must have had a mechanism connected to the lock to open it… it’s really heavy” she let out between jerks once the door was about halfway open though it suddenly swung out as if a coiled spring had been released and it slammed Naria between itself and the wall “Oww… good thing I have my shell” she groaned as she pushed back the door just enough for her to slip free, a brief glimpse of the solid wall being dented in like it where hit by a sledgehammer visible and Naria fell to her knees shifting back to human form “whew… that took quite a bit out of me”

[Whitebrand]

"Rest," Rey said, sounding calm despite the fact that his heart had jumped into his throat at the sight of her getting hurt. He knew she wasn't really all that damaged , but just the idea of her being injured made him feel panicky. He walked into to vault in his kirin form, hoping he was ready for anything.

Gold. Gems. Treasure. The wealth lay in a disorganized pile on the other end of the vault. Rey swallowed at the sight. Despite being a member of the Imperial Family, this was the first time he had seen such wealth all in one place.

This must be one of the caches the Seras Empire squirreled away during the war, hr realized. Maybe it's been given up for lost or something, or they think that pirates or someone else made off with it. And this man has been guarding it, alone, all this time.

There was also a single treasure chest, shut with a very secure-looking lock. Rey stepped up to it and was surprised nothing happened to him. He morphed down to his hybrid form and crushed the lock in his hand. Finally he opened the trunk.

Nine Hells...

He didn't know what to say. Sitting there in this humble chest was a single, strange fruit. A Devil Fruit.

[tigra9]

Naria waved a hand “oh don’t worry I am… didn’t have a chance to retreat into my shell so I got two face fulls of door there” her eyes looked at what was inside and she blinked seeing Rey wrench the lock off the treasure chest and spoke “what is it captain?” She put a hand to her chest as her eyes directed themselves towards the chest in Rey’s hands… the feeling of being attracted to something was there… in that chest… and she wanted to find out what it was that was the source of this both uneasy and calming feeling that seemed to contradict itself in her chest.

Though Naria did break her gaze for a moment to glance at Ghast curious of his reaction finding this small hill of treasure he has been safeguarding all this time.

[Whitebrand]

Ghast was at the entrance to the vault, seemingly reluctant to step inside. His eyes were wide as he stared at the treasure. His gaze went to Rey's back and became curious.

"Wha' is it?" he asked.

"You have...performed a great service for the Empire," Rey said as he closed the lid of the chest. "And you should be recognized for your duty. I am taking possession of this cache and you are to be relieved of your duty as of the evacuation of this island."

The formal talk was bitter in Rey's mouth, but he knew this man was a loyal soldier and that what had happened to Rey and Naria was not his fault. He deserved some resolution to his situation, some thanks for what he had endured.

"I think we should move this all to the pirate's vessel and put it to proper use," he said, keeping his intent deliberately vague. He was sure Naria would get the message.

The old soldier nodded and saluted. He almost had tears in his eyes.

[tigra9]

Naria blinked and nodded… after a few seconds she got up and walked over “I can store this all away for us captain, that way we don’t have to waste time trying to load it all onto that ship…” she blushed looking between the boys as she took the chest from Rey “…without an audience if you two gentlemen would mind” acting quite embarrassed. “Just go ahead and head out, also gather some supplies to make a fire, I’ll be cooking food for us all when I’m done here”

Rey knew atleast the being embarrassed part was an act, when he was younger she often surprised him while completely naked just to enjoy his usually panicked reactions.

Once she was alone in the vault though she let out a sigh “to bad I can’t just add all this to my private collection… this would probably be enough to buy the village from that bastard by itself” she then blinked as she noticed a section of the wall had a seam to it that was easily overlooked and she set the chest down walking over to it and pulling it open smiling “ah… seems my luck isn’t completely shot huh?” She then set to work.

After about 30 minutes Naria walked back up to where the guys were, now she was wearing a proper pair of green pants that seemed like they were from a soldier uniform and a black tank top sleeveless shirt and military boots that fit her. But perhaps the most surprising thing was the assortment of weapons she was sporting now, a dagger handle sticking out of its sheath on her hip, a small buckler shield on her right arm (she was left handed) a rather plain military short sword sheathed and hung from her waist behind her back, a thin long flanged mace hanging off her waist opposite the dagger, and she had her naginata spear in her left hand though she held it so that the handle was tucked under her arm, the size of it now made it look like an unruly part of her arsenal since it was clearly meant to be a two handed weapon “I found a secret room in the vault, seems this place held a noble’s extra savings… weirdly all the weapons which I’m now sporting looked as if they were being maintained even up to the moment I grabbed them, no sign of rust or damage” she frowned looking at Ghast “sorry if it seems like I plundered, in truth I don’t only wield a spear, but years ago I was left in a position where I only had my spear on hand and so when I saw the pristine weapons I thought to take some for my own use” she scratched her cheek sheepishly “I feel much less defenseless like this, there is still a lot more weapons in there though it was practically a small armory and I don’t need the rest so you two can do whatever you want with the rest I just want to keep these please”

[Whitebrand]

"The captain who wore that stuff doesn't need it anymore," Ghast said heavily. "Take 'em. Use them honorably. If ye don't I'll sneak up on ye again."

Rey was helping the old man bundle up his few belongings...mostly tools for survival and extra rations. There was also a large tank that Rey was somehow able to lift.

"I could use an upgrade from a kitchen knife," Rey said with a nod.

The old man snorted.

"There was a trading post out there during the war," he said. "But I don' know if they're there anymore. Anything further out than my eyes can see I don't know anythin' about."

[tigra9]

Naria smiled “thank you, was your captain a weapon master or more he just tirelessly maintained these things while he was alive?” She asked and looked at Rey smirking “hey I say you do pretty good with that knife… when you actually wield it” she teased him a bit, Rey had never seen Naria fight with anything besides her spear and even her training him had only been the bare basics before she told him to figure out his own style from there.

Though she put a hand in her hip “also didn’t I say make a fire so I could cook for us? It will be dark before long so no need to leave under the night sky” she blinked and looked at Rey “though I should probably go anchor that ship and drag it closer at same time shouldn’t I?” When the ghouls had disembarked they hadn’t dropped an anchor after all so there was no guarantee the ship wouldn’t be taken by the currents of left unattended long enough.

[Whitebrand]

"Aye she was," Ghast corrected her. "I kept them polished in her honor."

"I'm just winging it," Rey said. "Thanks to my enhanced reflexes everyone else seem to move in slow motion so I've got a big advantage....but I really need more real experience."

"Ye'll be getting plenty of chances at that," the veteran said. "No fear there. Especially on the run from the Imperial family. Sir."

"Don't call me sire," Rey said automatically. "I don't have an official rank."

Yer a Seras," Ghast insisted. "That makes you the senior officer."

He headed for a well-used fire pit while Rey stared after him.

"I'm going to have to go all the way to the Grand Line to get away from this aren't I?"

[tigra9]

Naria couldn’t help but put a hand to her lips snickering at Ghast and Rey’s interactions “well thank you again, and Rey? The Seras kingdom are members of the world government, atleast we aren’t accepting any of their people on our crew”

She started walking towards the entrance of the base “I’ll go handle the ship… that I really would rather not bother using because we three aren’t enough to man such a ship” she frowned “we SERIOUSLY need to consider getting enough of a crew before we go getting a ship of our own captain!” She practically snapped at him as she walked out.

It would be nearly 30 minutes later that Naria returned with a mix of emotions basically written in her eyes. When she looked at them she tossed Rey a worn out leather covered book, it looked like a diary “found some useful items, a compass in serviceable condition, and a den den mushi for what good it is, strangely it’s still in healthy condition given the crew’s state. But Rey in that journal read the last three pages that have writing on them that’s only relevant information in it.”

With that she sat down and began pulling out stuff she had picked and some supplies stored inside her body, always making sure to pull them out of her palm.

The journal really was mostly daily blabber but the final pages shifted tone quite a bit with the first of the last three pages which was seemingly dated just half a month before Ghast had mentioned first noticing the ghouls reading: “It’s been… I don’t know, a week at this point since we escaped that damned pirate fleet… they were bearing the flag of that Krieg bastard. We took a lot of damage to the ship and my men have only just barely managed enough patchwork repairs to keep us afloat better. Now though our food supply is becoming a serious issue every single man on board is complaining of being hungry even after eating a lot! I’m not that bad, a snack here and there seems to satisfy me for a time but with every day these urges grow stronger in me. It all started the day after our encounter with krieg, he used a poison bomb on us but when the doc checked out none of the men showed symptoms of poisoning. Well whatever it’s time for me to go get another bit of my rations the craving is coming again.”

The second page seemed dated a few days after the first: “mutiny! We ran out of our rations yesterday and the men started arguing and fighting eachother! I had to break up Ted and Roy who were slugging it out on deck… normally a bit of a slug for entertainment ain’t a bad thing but they seemed to be aiming to kill! My hunger has gotten a lot worse and it’s taking all the energy I got just to keep the men somewhat orderly and write this… I hope we come across a merchant ship soon… I could really use some meat, juicier and bloodier the better…”

The final page was dated the very next day and the writing was notably less clean: “oh in the name of Davy Jones! Ted and Roy fought again but this time I wasn’t able to break it up in time and there was blood… when I smelt that me and the other men’s minds went blank…. Next thing I knew? I was on my hands and knees licking up blood of my hands and there were two skeletons on the deck! Bones licked clean of their meat and blood… we were so satisfied as if the hunger of this past week and a half was all a lie! Did a head count after but Ted and Roy were missing… no no NO! They were dead! WE ATE THEM!!!!……… I… I don’t know how much longer before another of us suffers their fate, but it’s just a matter of time… so this will be my final entry, damn it all we never even got to make much of a name for ourselves I only got a 1,000 berri bounty… if anyone should read this… beware “Fleet Devil” Krieg! He ain’t normal!”

The next page did have ink put to it but was so illegible it might aswell have been lines made just by dragging the feather pen along it.

[Whitebrand]

Rye's face darkened as he contemplated the horrors of the crew' s final days.

"This Kreig has an awful lot to answer for," he said at least.

"Oo's this Kreig?" The old man asked.

"He turned those people into the ghouls," Rey answered shortly.

"Sounds like someone ye should stay away from."

Rey smiled. It was that death-defying smile that the youth had acquired lately.

[tigra9]

Naria spoke “a pirate, pretty big name in the East blue, the number of atrocities he has caused in past 8 years is quite a list, and that’s only going off what little scraps of information i as a slave would be able to overhear, last I learned I think his bounty was something like 13,000,000. But that was a couple years back so I got no clue what it is now” her voice was solemn as she sat there tending the food she was cooking though something was clearly bothering her and it would be easy to guess it was what was written in the journal but a couple brief glances towards the den den mushi she had set down showed there was something else. Only Ghast would likely notice the glances though.

————————————————————————

At this time in another place a girls voice would sigh “really… 9 years of silence and when she finally contacts me she sounded so unsure of herself” blue eyes looked towards a picture on a shelf in the living room the female girl was sitting in and she gave a sad smile “I hope she snaps back to her old self before she makes it back here” she stood and walked over to the shelf picking up the picture with her webbed hands “She will be in for quite a surprise won’t she mom? I was stuck in my wheelchair last time she saw me after all” she kissed the picture “sweet dreams” she then put the picture down and reached out her arm to turn off the light the hint of a tattoo on her shoulder being glimpsed.

[Whitebrand]

"Wha' aren't ya sayen?" Ghost said with a mix of curiosity and suspicion. "Wha'der ye know?"

Rey looked up in confusion, then stared at Naria. Yes, she had that guarded expression in her face.

"I'm sure she has her reasons," he said carefully.

[tigra9]

Naria blinked now aware of what she had been doing and took a deep breath before exhaling it in a sigh “I contacted my sister on the way back… it’s been 9 years since we last spoke that’s all” Ghast didn’t know the situation at Naria’s village but clearly Naria had no intentions of speaking it.

It didn’t take long for food to be done and she gave the boys their portions in wooden bowls, it was a rather basic soup blending the meat and berries and fruit but compared to what Ghast had sustained himself with so far it was practically a first class soup “I’m not an exceptional cook but at the very least I do pride myself on being able to make something good with what I have on hand”

[Whitebrand]

Ghast took a precautionary sip. There was a pause as his eyes widened. A moment later he attacked the food like a madman.

Rey smiled at Naria as he took his portion, throwing her another wink.

"Good, Ghast?" he asked.

Ghast couldn't reply. His mouth was full.

"Was it a one-way note or did you get a reply somehow?" Rey asked.