Carat Isle Arc - One Piece RP (I)

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A pair of light green eyes blinked open and stared gently up at the wooden roof of their chosen resting place. There wasn't much else to see in the blackness, with the only light being a small sliver that filtered in through a crack in the wood.
Nevertheless, Toriru Shiori couldn't help the small smile that spread across her features as she uncrossed her arms and shifted her position. She hadn't been found yet, which meant she could do some exploring on her own.
Moving from where she was lying on her back with her feet pressed against the narrow walls of the box she had chosen as her hiding place, Shiori shifted to a crouch under the low wooden roof in order to have a better angle to push up at said 'roof' with one arm.

It had only been half a day or so ago, that Shiori had been wandering the busiest port of Reine Island...

The island was small, but that didnt stop large throngs of people from going about their daily business. As Shiori wandered along the docks of Reine Island, she could smell the delicate scents of cooking fish, as well as taste the salt of the ocean in the air. Sifting through the pockets of her pale blue jacket, Shiori wondered if she had enough beli to purchase some of that delicious smelling fish. There was nothing like fresh fish after all. Luckily, the money she'd gotten from lending a helping hand on the last ship she'd been on was more than enough to buy some food, and so Shiori sat at the small stall by the docks to enjoy her fish, not forgetting to thank the stall owner and praise his cooking. There really was nothing like fresh fish cooked on the docks.
Shiori had been about to ask the cheerful man about the best fish to put in a spicy fish stew, when her ears picked up the subject of conversation of a duo that were passing by the stall.

"The Grand Line is still that far away?" A blonde haired man asked his friend, who had a nasty scar over his right eye that trailed over his nose before ending on his left cheek.
The scarred man chuckled at the disappointment in the blonde's voice, clapping a hand on his shoulder.

"You should enjoy the peace whilst it lasts!" He laughed, "The Grand Line will run you ragged. It's a dangerous place."
The young blonde's frown didn't leave his face as he replied, "But then why does everyone call it 'Paradise'?"

The older man with the scar burst out into a long, hearty laugh at the blonde's words, before their voices were lost in the crowds of Reine Island's port.

Shiori had wasted no time wolfing down the rest of her fish and yelling another thanks to the stall owner as she dashed off in the direction the duo had disappeared in. They weren't wearing navy uniforms, they'd been carrying various weaponry, and they were heading for the Grand Line, which suggested only one thing.
"Pirates!" Shiori grinned to herself.

Shiori didn't have a ship of her own, and so for the time being she'd opted to use her 'skills' at stowing away on other ships to get her from place to place. Normally she'd find a way on board and hide until they were in open waters, at which point she'd explore the new ship before someone found her and then convince them to let her stay aboard rather than throw her off.
Sometimes it was easy, sometimes it was a hard task that needed to be handled delicately. It all depended on the type of pirates. Luckily Shiori didn't mind swimming too much, and as long as she wasnt too far away from the port she'd left, she could make her way back towards the docks and try and find another ship. Or if the threat of being thrown overboard was too large, steal a rowing boat and row back.

These two pirates however, seemed like somewhat decent individuals. Shiori just hoped their captain was of the same attitude. You could never be sure after all.

Spotting the blonde haired man and the scarred man in the crowd, Shiori had followed them, watching as they stopped at a store to pick up some rum and sake before heading back to their ship.

The boat had a stag figurehead and Shiori had to admit that the antlers it possessed made it look rather formidable. The flag the ship was flying was black with a skull and crossbones, but the skull possessed the same antlers as the ship's figurehead.

Shiori had already decided that Reine Island was too small to find a crew of her own here, so someone else's ship would do just fine until she could acquire one. If the words of these pirates could be taken at face value, the entrance to the Grand Line was still weeks, if not months away anyway; plenty of time to find a ship of her own, and maybe even her own crew! 
Shiori's mind was so easily lead astray by thoughts and dreams of adventure ok the Grand Line, that she nearly missed her opportunity to sneak on board the deer-ship. The ship's crew had been noticably absent from the deck for the past few minutes and, upon realising this, Shiori took advantage of the gap in security to hop on board and duck through a few doors until she reached the cargo hold.
Checking each of the various chests and boxes in the hold until she found one that was all but empty (if you ignored the few bottles of alcohol and a couple of bags of coins), Shiori clambered inside. It wasn't a tight squeeze and the young pirate-to-be had ample room to rearrange her position into something vaguely comfortable.

She had fallen asleep there, the comfort of the small space erasing any sense of danger that Shiori might have felt from hiding there as she waited for the ship to leave Reine Island.

The lid of the chest was opened just a crack but with practiced ease, making hardly a sound as Shiori's gaze scanned the area before her. Unfortunately what greeted her was nothing more than a stone wall, but there was still information to be gleaned from the sight. It definitely wasn't the same wall that she'd left behind when she'd first hidden in the wooden chest back in Reine Island's port, and Shiori couldn't help but wonder just how long she had been sleeping for.
Peering over the edge of her box, Shiori noted that the other assorted boxes and crates laden with food and other stored goods were still here with her, but in a slightly different order to before.

Where on earth had the ship's stores been moved to?

At first Caim merely nodded along to how they had responded to his explanation, it had been common sense really, more places to defend means less guards at individual locations. "A Helmsman's duty is to ensure the safety of their crew, a strong mind is key, not pure brute strength" He stated, his tone calm and composed in nature as he did so.

He waited quietly as the Pirates assembled themselves into the two seperate teams, the main duo that had been speaking having split themselves up amongst the group's, if anything that provided a more vocal member to each team to help keep them in check. When the call to advance forward rang out, Caim quietly nodded along, knowing that this would be the beginning of the deciding battle to come, would they succeed or be felled here and now?

Caim made certain to remain as close to the front as possible, in battle he was most effective in close quarters after all, due to his many years of training with the sword. It wasn't particularly difficult to realize that the Marines had learned of their freedom, Caim mentally was already prepared. "We don't have an extremely large area in which to manuever, don't shoot if at all possible, we want to avoid incidents of friendly fire. For now, allow me and Shiori to handle them, if we all just rush them fighting will become more difficult until we reach an open area" Caim spoke, keeping his tone calm and collected, showing no fear whatsoever of the fight that was up ahead.

Cautiously, he advanced ahead of the group in order to engage the enemy in combat, he had to pull his own weight, for his own sake and for the pirates as well.

The guards were positioned with the three swordsmen at the front and the gunmen behind them, positionsd either side of the larger individual.

Tensing her feet for a brief half second, Shiori's green gaze lingered on the guards before them, focused on the gunman to the left. Relaxing her feet again with a small breath, Shiori tried to remember what her mentors had taught her. They'd worked for a while to develop this technique but it had been intended for use in the water rather than outside of it.
Of course intended use didn't really matter to Shiori as long as it was useful.

She flashed a quick glance to Caim before she moved, wordlessly expressing her trust in his will to protect those around him.

"Wave Step."
Her voice had an oddly joyful tone to it as she whispered, barely giving a warning of her intentions to the marines.

In the blink of an eye, the blur of Shiori's brown hair and pale blue coat darted forwards, towards the gunman whose fingers lingered too close to the trigger. She whipped past the three swordsmen, using her limited ability to manipulate the water in the air to propel herself forward at a faster rate than would normally be possible. The shock from the girl's sudden burst of speed caused the leftmost gunman to hesitate with his shot as his target disappeared. It was long enough.

Before the guard could fire off his intended shots, Shiori had kicked and twisted his wrist, forcing him to drop the weapon. She wasted no time dropping swiftly from her kick into a water powered uppercut, which served to easily knock out that first guard and prevent him from attacking further.

Shiori didn't need to look far to find the remaining gunman, her next priority, as the guards turned their attention to her.

The three swordsmen had scrambled urgently as they realised that Shiori had made it past them, one lunging towards her as she made to attack the second gunman. Shiori hopped backwards to dodge a stab that would have impaled her liver if she hadn't have moved. She ignored the large brute of a man, choosing not to engage with him as he made to follow her swift movements with his fists, attempting to squash her like the bug he viewed her as.
Shiori trusted in both her own agility and the skills that Caim possessed, focussing her sights only on the current largest threat to the pirates who remained the other end of the tunnel whilst the other two swordsmen selected the helmsman as their target.

The guard wielding the gun seemed hesitant at first, attempting to aim for Caim and Shiori who were the most relevant threat, but not able to get a clear shot on the latter without risking harm to the swordsman who was attempting to dispatch her. Instead, he turned his sights to Caim.

The swordsman lunged forward again, trying to back Shiori into The wall of the corridor. However, instead of repeating the same dodge as before, the teenager instead leaped into the air and landed on the edge of the blade as it sailed beneath her.
Her weight forced the thin blade into the ground and Shiori quickly somersaulted over the head of the swordsman, propelling herself using the surface of his own sword.

Landing on her hands, Shiori quickly hopped upright again, aware that the remaining gunman was aiming for her new friend. Not wasting any time, she crossed the short distance between herself and her target and kicked his arm just as his finger pulled the trigger. There was the distinct sound of bullets embedding themselves in the dark brickwork of the ceiling, before a grunt of pain as Shiori kicked the physically weak marine into the blackness of unconsciousness.

It was finally time to begin... After this there would be no turning back for Caim, he'd have openly fought against the marines and likely put his crew in danger in the process. In his mind though it was better than leaving them to suffer, they still would have a chance to create new lives for themselves, or have the possibility to return to how things were. Caim knew that he wouldn't be so lucky, it was a sacrifice he was willing to make however.

A faint smirk formed on his face as he saw Shiori rapidly descend on the Gunmen, completely bypassing the sword wielding marines in the process. He couldn't let himself get distracted by this however, it wasn't long until he'd advanced into the midst of the enemy. He still had not drawn Murasame as of yet, aiming to draw the opposition into a sense of security. Having walked past one of the swordsmen as the first Bullet flew towards him, Caim rapidly turned and drew Murasame, launching a swift downward slash towards the swordsman he had passed by.

The bullet flew by, Caim's sudden turn and drawing of the blade having moved him out of the way of the incoming munition. His blade clashed against that of a Marine swordsman, Caim was swift to follow through. He quickly began alternating between rapid diagonal and horrizontal strikes, aiming to force the opponent into a defensive, uncomfortable position. This wasn't needed however, the opponent was far too slow to block them all, soon collapsing from mounting wounds caused by the successful barrage. 

At this point he turned his attention to the rest of the battle, he could see the remaining swordsman preparing and the large, bulkier marine attempting to swat down Shiori as she brawled against the enemy, this was his chance. "Itto-ryu" he uttered as he advanced, charging the opponent at a fast pace while only holding Murasame with one hand. It soon turned into a great leap, he appeared to be aiming for a leaping slash against the remaining swordsman. 

The larger foe seemed to have heard Caim speak and thus turned, throwing a punch to try and hit Caim while he was in the air, thinking he was vulnerable. Caim's reaction time was swift, using his free hand he grabbed onto the large Marine's arm and spun round, unleashing a brutal strike to the opponents Cranium using the blunt back of the sword. He immediately followed up by releasing the opponents arm and allowing himself to fall.

He took a hold of Murasame with both hands and and struck, taking advantage of his adversary being stunned due to the concussive force of the previous strike. As he fell he launched three slashes, the first horizontal, the second at an angle of forty five and then another horizontal strike afterwards, carving a deep Z into the opponents chest as he did so. "Koiru-jō dokuhebinokiba" He spoke as he finished the technique, the large foe collapsed moments later.

At this point Caim now turned his attention to the final swordsman, his grip of the blade shaking In terror of what had just happened...He stood no chance it seemed. Regardless he rushed forwards to in the very least try and attack, however Caim took advantage of his opponents lowered guard, striking with a rising slash to finish off the opposition.

Both gunmen now dealt with, Shiori's attention returned to the remaining swordsman. He attacked again, slashing at Shiori with successive horizontal strikes. She dodged and weaved around them, occasionally using the thick soles of her shoes to block a strike. After a few strikes, Shiori seemed to get a feel for his power and reach and began to strike back.

Parrying his strikes with one foot, Shiori changed tactics all of a sudden, dodging under a sudden lunge from the marine and swinging her leg around to knock his feet out from underneath him.

The marine fell to the ground and Shiori immediately disarmed him and knocked him out, kicking his sword towards the pirates on the other side of the hall.

Shiori turned back to Caim as she heard the words of his technique, watching him as he finished off the last swordsman so shortly after defeating the larger man.

Crossing her arms with a grin, the tawny haired teen commented.
"Are you sure you're just a helmsman? You fight like a warrior. And I haven't even seen those cool powers of yours yet!" she smiled.

The pirates moved forwards now that the coast was clear, some of them picking up the weapons of the marines as they rejoined with Caim and Shiori. Some of them watched the duo in awe, and hushed whispers of 'so cool!' and various praises for their allies's skills could be heard among them. The tawny haired girl and the helmsman had taken out all of their opponents without a scratch in a 2 vs 6 battle. That was somewhat impressive after all.

Turning to the pirates, Shiori uncrossed her arms and gestured over her shoulder to the stairs that lead up to the first level.
"Well, shall we go then?" She grinned, before stepping over the swordsman she'd knocked out and heading for the exit.

At this point Caim took a moment to clean the now dirty blade of Murasame before sheathing the weapon, a poorly treated weapon is just as bad as a poorly treated body. A quick glance around confirmed that the Marine's had all been dealt with while there had been no visible casualties... Good. Shiori soon spoke up about his ability with the sword, questioning if he was just a normal Helmsman or not.

"Needless to say I'm a practitioner of Itto-ryu, One Sword style to translate. I come from the Grand Line, from a family of well known and respected Swordsmen and Swordswomen. My family have passed down my Meito, Murasame for generations, every receiver of the blade undergoing intense constant training to develop their strength, speed, understanding and skill with a sword. And either way, if I let myself be stopped by these dishonourable rabble I'll never be able to accomplish my ambition, to free my people from the traditional ways that holds their potential back" Caim explained in order to respond to her comment, she'd shown herself relatively trustworthy so far so he had no qualms with doing so.

Now he returned his focus to the matters at hand, he could hear the comments being muttered by pirates about their ability and how effortless that battle had been for us, it was clear they hadn't expected it to go this well. When Shiori spoke about resuming their advance Caim nodded, they didn't have time to delay. "She's right, the longer we delay the more difficult matters will get for all of us Caim spoke in agreement before following her up the stairs, his left hand on the hilt of his Meito in preparation for any more combat.

Shiori had looked thoughtful for a short moment at Caim's response before she had turned back to the pirates and lead them back up towards the stairs.

Letting the pirates and Caim catch up with her, she grinned to the helmsman, taking the advantage to question him on his words from before as they headed up the stairs that lead from the underground prison area to the first floor.
"You're from the Grand Line?" She asked, both her smile and her voice portraying her sudden, but not uncommon, excitement over this new fact.
"What's it like? I've never been there. Or, well, never been there outside of a ship's storage hold. But that's where I'm heading!" she revealed, a faraway look crossing her green eyes for a few moments as she imagined the possibilities of the Grand Line. Of course she'd heard many stories about that legendary ocean, from both pirate and marine alike, but here was a new story, standing right before her. Even in the situation that they were in, Shiori couldn't help but ask about it, though she knew Caim had no obligation to tell her.

So she was curious about that one ocean... The Grand Line, Caim couldn't exactly blame her for it, the many legends and tales of the strange ocean were common and not the most consistent, wanting to get the point of view from one that originated there made sense. "I am from the Grand Line, but now isn't the time to discuss this... We have people to save and weapons to acquire... Once we get out of here and away from the brawl I can give my point of view" Caim responded, his words containing solid logic behind them, people's lives were more important than such a tale at this moment in time.

Caim motioned for her to continue, from what he could recall the path split into two at the top of the stairs, the Armory must exist in one of those two directions. "We'll be splitting up very soon, be ready... And good luck".

Shiori couldn't help the small pout that reached her lips as Caim took the more logical route and chose to stow his stories for later.
"Aww, you're no fun," she whined, though she didn't hold it against him. His logic was flawless after all, but being brushed off until later only made her all the more curious about what sort of place his home had been.

As the pout left her face and the smile returned, Shiori added in a more cheerful tone, "Fine~ But I'll hold you to all these promises you're making!"

With that, Shiori turned her attention to the stairs, climbing them with ease, Ackee and a few others having already made it past Caim and Shiori as they spoke. As the group drew closer to reaching the top, Caim had warned that they'd be splitting up soon, wishing her good luck.

"We make our own luck!" she grinned as they finally reached the top. Ackee was already pointing in one of the two directions.

"Alright! My group, this way!" he called, eyes resting on Durian as he too reached the top of the steps, nodding to his friend and making to leave in the opposite direction.
"Remember! We're looking for our weapons and an exit-"
"And Caim's crewmates!" Shiori added with a grin, Ackee nodding in approval at the girl who had freed them.
"You heard the lady! If either group manages to reach the captain, make sure to update him on everything!"

The Stag Pirates let loose a yell of acnowledgement to their acting captain's words (Shiori joining in with gusto) as they seamlessly split up into their pre assigned groups and began to head in the appropriate direction. A few more of them had a weapon at hand now, as the weapons from the five armed guards had been divided up and given to those most skilled with them.

Caim shrugged at her comment about him being 'no fun'. Fun could wait for when lives were not in danger, the longer they delayed, the more difficult matters would become due to the enemy having more time to fortify key locations such as the Armory or the cells. When her wording and tone changed to something that seemed more positive, Caim merely nodded, she deserved that much for certain.

Caim started walking up the stairs again, being careful to avoid shoving people on accident, they didn't have the time for any mistakes. He merely nodded to respond to the luck comment and to Shiori reminding them about finding his crew, it was good to see she was still going to help with that... Caim couldn't leave them here to suffer, no matter what the cost was.

"Be ready, the sound of gunfire may have put those who heard it on alert" Caim spoke, his words being rather sensible for the situation, they couldn't afford to be careless, even with the enemy likely split three ways that didn't change the fact that this base belonged to the enemy.

Shiori followed Ackee's group as they made their way through the base. She didn't attempt to lead, trusting in the judgement of her new friends. She did however, remain close to the front of the group, doing her own thing and ready to step in should anyone need it.

After passing a few rooms and barging into them only to find them empty and devoid of both weapons and Caim's crew, the group of pirates slowed their pace a little. Reaching the end of the corridor, the raised voices of at least one higher ranked marine along with multiple subordinates could be heard, the former calling out orders to his underlings. 
Ackee hurriedly signalled for his group, affectionately nicknamed B Team, to stop and quiet down, ready to ambush the incoming naval personnel as they turned the corner.


With the captain of the Stag Pirates making his way towards their front door, and the recent gunshot sounds that had come from within the base itself, the entire compound was on red alert. Rushed footsteps could be heard almost everywere in the base, with the sole exception of the corridors leading to the underground cells due to the guards having been knocked out. The entire base was in a paniced frenzy, marines organising their squads and following various orders as they attempted to regain control of the situation.


All of a sudden Ackee's group were right in the thick of things.

Their surprise attack had given the B Team an unprecedented advantage, despite them not having much weaponry between them. As a result, even the unarmed individuals had managed to help in knocking out a few of the marines with little input from Shiori. Gathering the weaponry from the fallen marines, most of the unarmed pirates proceeded to select a weapon they figured they could use in order to support the rest of their friends as they faced off with the marines.

This particular squadron of marines were somewhat more skilled than the six guards who had been assigned to the underground cells and were putting up a lot more of a fight, with multiple matchups seeming to be fairly even. 
All but one, that was.

The individual who had been barking orders down the hall, a lieutenant ranked officer, was currently standing off against a still weaponless Ackee. The B Team's temporary leader appeared to be struggling to dodge all of the slashes from the lieutenant's sword, despite the confident way in which the pirate held himself.

Dodging a swing from her own opponent, Shiori called over to her friend.
"Oi, Ackee! Swap with me!" She grinned, hopping to the left and moving towards Ackee, avoiding an angered strike as the fist fighting marine was riled up by Shiori's casual proposal.

A look of confusion flashed across Ackee's face before it was replaced with gratitude as he realised what Shiori meant: swap opponents. Without his trusty cutlass by his side he had to reluctantly admit that he stood no chance against the lieutenant, and called back to Shiori with a small grin.

"If you insist," he chuckled. 

At his words, Shiori flashed him a smile and immediately leapt backwards, somersaulting onto her hands in a move that was both a dodge from a punch her former opponent had launched, and a defensive manoeuvre to protect Ackee from her new one. Her legs arced through the air until her feet met the metal of the blade that had been aiming for her friend's back. Shiori parried the blow with the thick soles of her shoes, her expression returning to one of grim determination as she allowed Ackee to engage the fist fighter and bring the lieutenant's attention to herself instead.

The lieutenant withdrew his sword from the stalemate between it's blade and the teen's shoes, Shiori quickly somersaulting back to her feet and falling into a more defensive posture, her arms poised and ready to strike.
The marine seemed to not outwardly react to the switch of opponents, but the glare in his eyes indicated his general disgust for the pirates before him more than any words could.

At this point in time Caim had positioned himself at the front of the group, acting as the vanguard in order to lower the chance of casualties from surprise gunfire from the front. He found himself leading the group, the apparantly now named C team, with the Stag Pirates Captain's forces being designated as the A team due to them being better equipped than those within at this moment in time. Skirmishes along the route that Caim was leading were relatively common, small groups of Marines having been fortifying the corridor which seemed to be leading towards a large, open room.

The small groups proved relatively easy for Caim to dispatch with his Meito, proving to be relatively unskilled opponents in dealing with an experienced Itto-ryu Swordsman. Caim found it relatively interesting that so many groups tried to defend this corridor, it made him believe the armoury or some other important facility was close... His estimation proved to be accurate.

Soon enough Caim came to point in the corridor where another entrance had opened up, rapid movement being audible from Caim's current location. Caim cautiously motioned behind him for the group of Pirates to hold position, after which Caim leaned against the wall and slowly looked around the corner, only to rapidly pull back behind it as a Gunshot was let loose. It turned out that a group of Gunmen had taken position at the far side of the hallway, after which a passageway into a large room filled with armaments was visible.

"The armoury is through here... But it's under guard by a large group of Gunmen... If we try and rush them we're going to receive heavy casualties... Please wait here while I handle it" Caim spoke as he glanced towards the group, no panic or fear detectable in his voice despite just almost getting shot. Caim backed away from the wall and drew Murasame from it's sheath quietly, gripping the Hilt with both hands... He was planning something. "Itto- ryu" Caim announced as he rapidly turned the corner and prepared to strike, he didn't approach however... What was he up to?

Caim swung the blade is a large arc, putting as much force into the swing as he could. The swing triggered a potent, large Razor Wind effect which flew forward, right towards the Gunmen and through the volley of bullets that had been unleashed towards Caim, slicing clean through the munitions and the makeshift cover the Marines had established, along with a large number of those Marines themselves. "Zefākyanon" Caim spoke, watching as the wind caused multiple of them to drop to the ground, wounded critically by the strike. The three remaining Gunmen looked to their fallen companions, eyes widening in relative terror, two of them even dropping their Flintlocks out of shock and fear.

Caim took advantage of this and pushed forwards, using the blunt back of Murasame to knock the remaining trio unconscious, after which he merely walked back to his group and motioned for them to get moving... surely there would be more opponents within the Armoury itself, poised to defend it.

Leaving Ackee to fight against the opponent more suited to his current lack of weaponry, Shiori focussed her attention on the lieutenant. They had  been fighting in the midst of everyone else to begin with, juggling their own fight and the collateral from others. However, Shiori's seemingly random and unplanned strikes and dodges, though not strong enough to deal damage, were slowly forcing the lieutenant back down the corridor that the marines had come from and away from the rest of the B Team.

Once they were clear of others, the lieutenant began to take the fight more seriously, both opponents separating for a moment to catch their breath.

"You're a fast one," the lieutenant commented gruffly, mostly speaking to himself. Shiori's expression brightened into a small, seemingly innocent grin, but she didn't say anything in response. If he thought she was fast now he hadn't seen anything yet.

Catching her grin, the lieutenant scowled. Shiori chuckled to herself, shifting her weight from one foot to another before she rushed forwards once again. She wasn't just playing anymore, but neither was her opponent.

The marine slashed horizontally at the approaching brunette who ducked underneath the blade, using the opportunity to punch the lieutenant in the stomach with both hands. With both of his own hands on the hilt of his sword, the lieutenant didn't have a way to block the strike and was sent flying as the wave of water rippled through his body. He landed with a crash through the wall behind him, debris raining down from the hole he left behind.

"Lieutenant Rueben!" a shrill cry came from the other end of the corridor. One of the newest recruits had watched as with panic as his commander was thrown through a wall. The cry distracted a few other marines long enough for some of the Stag Pirates to turn the tables on their fights.

Cautiously, Shiori stood up to her full height once again and wandered over to the hole in the wall, stepping through it into the next room. Rueban had already gotten to his feet, much to the young recruit's relief, and leaned on his sword as he recovered from the unexpected blow. As Shiori stepped through the hole in the wall, Lieutenant Reuban launched himself at her, sword at the ready and more than aware that he needed to prove himself to his subordinates.

Shiori parried the blow using the sole of her left shoe, her green eyes meeting the brown ones of the lieutenant before she broke contact and the duo began to clash over and over again. As they did, Shiori became painfully aware that she wasn't equipped to deal with a swordsman for long, drawn out fights, not if she wanted to keep her shoes anyway.

The aspiring pirate didn't realise until a while later, but as they'd clashed, she and Lieutenant Reuban had broken through multiple rooms, some walls crashing down from being weakened by the slices of Rueban's sword, others by the force of Shiori's water powered blows. 

At the realisation that their fight was taking them further and further away from the B Team, Shiori took advantage of the lieutenant's now slowing reaction time to change her tactics. First attacking and injuring one arm, she attempted to disarm him by kicking at his incoming sword and hooking her leg around the remaining arm, twisting painfully until he dropped the blade.

Stepping back a few paces as the lieutenant scrambled to reclaim his weapon, Shiori leaped forward at speed and kicked out at his unprotected form with both feet, hitting him square in the face and breaking through yet another wall with the force of their bodies.

The lieutenant was flung to the ground a fair distance away, Shiori landing neatly on her feet and steadying herself with a hand before she stood up again, noting that the marine was well and truly knocked out this time.
Lifting her foot up to check the soles of her shoes, Shiori frowned at how sliced up they were and realised she'd have to find a better way to fight sword wielding opponents in future. She'd have to find a shoemaker to fix up her shoes too.

Lowering her foot to the ground, Shiori realised that she was being watched. A quick glance around the room confirmed that fact as her green gaze rested on multiple individuals being kept in what appeared to be another cell block.

Wandering over to the nearest cell, Shiori grasped the bars and looked inside, realisation dawning on her.
"Are you..?" She blinked, "Caim's crew?"

Caim and 'C team' had now advanced into the Armoury, finding no more resistance in the corridor due to Caim's previous useage of Zefākyanon, the technique which had brought down the Gunmen with a Razor Wind. Needless to say a rather large group of Marines had been waiting inside the Armoury, primarilly appearing to be armed with swords and other assorted close quarters weaponry. It didn't take long for conflict to begin, the now better armed C team brawling against the Marines, blade against blade, Munitions flying.

Caim personally had found himself squaring off against a larger marine, one who seemed to be using a rather large Glaive, a peculiar weapon to encounter amongst Marines, but a good weapon non the less. Oddly enough, the large Marine, one who seemed to outrank the rest of the Marines here, he appeared to be challenging Caim to a duel. Caim of course found himself agreeing, striking a deal with his opponent, that the power's forces would withdraw without further bloodshed.

The Large Marine instructed for the fighting to stop, announcing the agreement not only to them, but to C team as well. The two groups ceased fighting, C team staring as if Caim had gone insane, the Marines purely out of shock.

Caim and his opponent both then moved into the appropriate position for such a duel, both intending on ending this fight without more people falling If it was at all possible. The two opposing warriors bowed before the fight, out of respect to the agreement... It would be a great dishonour to betray such a matter, both knew that well.

The two now advanced, starting the duel, with Caim and his Opponents weapons clashing near instantly, Caim's Meito against the large staff like Glaive of his Opponent.  To start with, the battle seemed to be going well for the Marine, using the longer range of his Glaive to keep Caim back and out of attacking range while still applying pressure, it didn't take long for Caim to find a flaw in this strategy however. Ducking under a diagonal slash, Caim rapidly closed in on his opponent and engaged with a rising slash,  attempting to use the opponents great reach against him be remaining as up close as possible. The Marine barely managed to block the strike, backing away in order to try and acquire more breathing room to fight back, however, Caim pursued relentlessly in order to keep as much pressure on the opponent as possible.

Caim had begun a constant assault of rapidly shifting slashes, doing his best to force his opponent into an uncomfortable position, into one where desperate, punishable actions would be unleashed. Landing a solid blow to the opponents chest, Caim finally relented, backing away for a moment to revalutate the situation. Caim figured that he would rather end this quickly, he knew failure was not an option... It was about time to end this. The opposing marine seemed to have the same idea, clearly preparing to utilise some sort of technique.

In silence Caim returned Murasame to it's Sheath... He planned on finishing it now. "Itto-ryu" Caim announced, his left hand resting on Murasame's hilt. Caim and his opponent both ran forward, Caim himself initiating a leap forwards where as his opponent used his glaive to do the equivalent of polevaulting into the air. The two clashed in mid air, Caim unleashing two rotating circular slashes, rapidly during Murasame in the the process where as his opponent unleashed a strong overhead slash. The two landed on opposing sides, Caim slowly sheathing his blade. "Iai Īgurusu no kagidzume" He spoke as he fully sheathed his blade, a sudden Razor Wind effect occurring as it fully returned, rising upwards between the two, the effect of the two dueling combatants now becoming clear.

The Marine collapsed to the ground, clearly defeated, where as on Caim's side he appeared to have taken a rather large cut to his right shoulder, having tore right through his clothes and flesh... It wasn't pretty. Caim rose from his position on the ground, turning to his fallen foe and bowing out of respect... It had been a honourable fight. "The duel is done, he fought well, but fate has determined I the victor... Our terms still stand, leave this place. Please take him and his Glaive with you, he fought with honour, a rare matter nowadays" Caim spoke, his tone calm and collected, trying his best not to show the pain his newly acquired wound was causing.

(Meanwhile)
Caim's crew had been sitting back in silence, resting, waiting for the inevitable fall as conflict was occuring, amongst the silence the sound of walls collapsing, the sounds of conflict rapidly could be heard approaching, causing many of the clue to being conversing amongst themselves, muttered questions of "what's going on? Are people fighting?" Could be heard.

These conversations were cut short as a Tawny haired teenager and a Marine Lieutenant came crashing through the wall. They stared at the scene in silence, shocked by the scene that occurred before their very eyes. When she spoke up, asking them if they were Caim's crew, many began speaking amongst themselves in shock, many mutterings of "Caim... He called for help? What on earth is going on".

Once again this was soon cut short as a deep, booming voice echoed through the cell block. "Silence... Talking amongst yourselves will not solve this. If this Caim you speak of happens to be a Helmsman... Then you are correct, he happens to be our Helmsman. But first... Please explain what is going on" the voice said, the origin seeming to come from further down. The source of the voice happened to be the true Captain of the merchant crew.

(I know I could go into detail and describe how they look, but this post has been delayed enough as it is, no need to make it be delayed any further)

Shiori's attention was drawn to the cells further down as the booming voice identified that they were in fact the crew that Caim had been with. She stepped away from the bars she had grasped, a grin lighting up her expression as she glanced at each of their faces in turn.
"He's been pretty worried about you guys from what I can tell," she smiled, her manner and mood seeming to ignore the loud noises of fighting and the general direness of the situation at hand as if it were normal.

The tawny haired teenager moved over to the cell containing the man who had spoken for all the others.
"Captain, right?" She blinked, pointing gently to him and sitting cross legged in front of the bars to his cell, "We're all getting out of here. You too."

The sounds of fighting intensified suddenly as something else was destroyed in the battle. What sounded like a small explosion ripped through the air distracting Shiori for a moment. She blinked and looked behind her as if that would help her figure out what it was before turning back to the real merchant captain with a chuckle.

"And that is our ticket out, I suppose," she added, waving a hand as if to motion to the noises around them. She wondered what on earth had caused the blast, but she doubted the marines would destroy their own base if they had a choice in the matter and so assumed it to be something the 'C Team' had done.

As it turned out, that blast marked the full arrival of the captain of the Stag Pirates, who had carried a small cannon from his ship and fired it at the marine base. It had blasted a rather sizeable hole in the wall of the base, though not close enough to either team to break through to them.

Caim gave the defeated Marines all the time they needed to leave the area, gripping his wounded shoulder in order to try and slow any further blood loss... he would need to get it bandaged as soon as possible. He clearly understood that only being able to freely use one arm without pain would interfere with fighting with Murasame for the moment so he reached into his jacket, pulling out the .44 Flintlock Revolver he had acquired previously.

"Fortify this location, do not let the enemy reclaim it, no matter the cost. I'll go find the other team and alert them that we've taken the Armoury" Caim spoke, his tone showing that he didn't want anyone to argue back... This was something that had to be done. With Flintlock in hand Caim walked out of the Armoury and headed off back the way he came... He was going to follow the tracks B team had left.

It wasn't long until he had found the scene of conflict occurring between B team and a group of Marines. "The Armoury is ours for now... Ackee, where's Shiori?" Caim spoke, trying to get the groups attention.

(Meanwhile)
Many of the crew seemed to be rejoicing happily at the mention of being gotten out, however the sudden boom of the Captains voice put a stop to it once again. "you said you were getting us out of here... Just how exactly? This is a Marine base remember, it won't be that easy" The captain spoke, his logic made perfect sense really.