Yulippe Island Arc - One Piece RP (II)

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Still clinging to life the day retained it's light, the sun having not yet begun to set, though it was early evening. The taste and smell of salt lingered in the air, a permanent accompaniment to the gentle sound of the ocean's waves. The occasional presence of gull or two and their accompanying wing flaps would only serve to complete the picturesque view.

Shiori sat with her legs dangling over the rail-edge of the fishing boat, her bright green eyes hidden behind her eyelids. The tawny haired captain found herself breathing in deeply as she took in the atmosphere of the ocean around her with her other senses. The scents of the ocean were those she had come to associate with a sense of freedom, and with their constant presence since they had left Carat Isle two days ago, Shiori felt content.

A sharp tug on the rod she clutched in her hands brought Shiori back to reality, her eyes flying open as a broad grin spread across her face and she hopped to her feet. Despite the dangers, Shiori managed to balance quite skillfully on the rails, as if she'd done it a thousand times before.

"Oi Caim! I think I finally caught something!" she grinned, "I bet it's gonna be massive and it'll kick the asses of all the fish you've managed to catch!" she laughed, tugging back on her line and hopping off of the rails and onto the deck so that she had a larger surface area to brace her feet against.

The afternoon-to-evening fishing competition had been Shiori's idea, since the fishing boat they'd 'recycled' had happened to have a few spare rods on board. However the odds were not in her favour so far, as she'd managed to fish up exactly nothing. It wasn't much of a surprise that she was beginning to get bored of reeling in an empty hook, but each new tug on her line seemed to bring new hope that she might finally catch something.

Shiori couldn't help the predatory grin that spread across her face at Bobby's taunting. He really was just asking for it now and she wasn't about to hold back.

"You'd be surprised. Won't it be just humiliating when a ten million beli head loses to someone without a dime to their name," the tawny haired captain replied, dodging another attack from the heavy battleaxe.

Zipping around the Half-Giant like an irritating fly, Shiori avoided each of the man's attempts to harm her with little effort whilst she pinpointed the best place to strike. With a place in mind, the tawny haired teenager waited for her chance, directing the man to attack in one direction, whilst she feinted in the other. After one such feint, Shiori found herself directly behind the man once again. This time though, she wouldn't just kick his shoulder. Instead, she aimed for the base of his back, dealing a severe blow with a a duo of water powered punches.

Almost immediately, the man dropped his battleaxe, shrieking in pain as he collapsed forwards, unable to move his legs whilst Shiori landed rather gracefully on the deck.
"Perhaps you'll think twice next time you decide to mess with people I consider friends," she commented with a glare, leaving the newly paralysed man to pass out as she turned away from the ship and went to regroup with Caim.

With a smirk, the chocolate haired teen looked back at the other two battles going on nearby. Both Caim and Shiori didn't seem to be harmed at all, rather much like himself. But soon, his triumph was drained away, as he looked on in horror at the scene folding out in front of him. Not only was the chain of Caim's attacker choking the large pirate on it's own, but Caim had a revolver pointed at his face. Three shots. One in the stomach, another in the arm, and one, fine wound to the head. Hayes was both very disturbed, but more freaked out that the chain was moving on its own.

"Wh-what w-was that j-just n-now?" The teen had been holding back some of the fish he had earlier, which had been threatening to quit it's job of digesting and exit the way it was employed. Hayes looked back at Shiori, whom had just gave the captain a doctor's note. I guess I won't be seeing him in dodgeball next week. Sometimes, the kid sickened himself. Despite his now budding trust issues of Caim, he decided, against his better judgement, to walk over to him and his brutality.

Caim took a moment to glance at the scene aboard the vessel. He noted the pained wielder of a what looked to be a Battle Axe, presumably their Captain, and another giant of a man on the ground. "We're done here it seems..." Caim commented, his tone absurdely calm for what he had just done. He was willing to admit it was a brutal display, but he had a good reason for it.

Without providing a display of what could and will happen to such Pirates, what reason would they have to stop harming the innocent? Peace... Through war, that was the doctrine he mentally had employed for that moment. Caim noted Hayes's general disgust for what had just been done, however Caim didn't comment, instead turning as if to fall back. Before he left however, he glanced back over his shoulder.

"What you just saw was merely an example... Be warned, and cease your willingness to abuse others, or you will share the fate of he" Caim spoke, his tone rather ominous... He didn't care if he was overdoing it, he was just wanted to get his point across.

Shiori leaped neatly down from the enemy ship, landing on the shore one again and striding over to Caim and Hayes. As she did so, she patted herself down, checking that her throwing knives were all still accounted for and ignoring the cut that she'd gotten on her lower leg for trying to kick an axe.

As she made her way over to Caim, she glanced at the brutal scene with a small frown but the hard look in her green eyes found it hard to pity the deceased man when he'd been just as much a part of the attack as any other pirate on the defeated crew.

"Maybe try not to make such a mess next time, yea?" she commented, "No need to go overboard."
The tawny haired captain paused for a short moment before continuing, looking up to rest her gaze on Caim himself, "To be fair though, that telekinesis power of yours looks like it comes in pretty handy," she chuckled.

Moving on, her green gaze switched to Hayes... who quite frankly was taking the entire scene rather well despite his stuttering. Shiori's expression softened quite considerably as she turned her attention to the cook.
"I gotta hand it to you Hayes, I didn't peg you for any sort of fighter," she commented, stretching her arms above her head to loosen them up a bit after all of the fighting. Dropping her arms back down to her sides, the vaguely amused look in her gaze turned to a more serious one.

"What is it that you actually want out of your life?" she asked him rather suddenly.

The young teen's mind was hit with a billion questions, mostly about how Caim could use telekinesis. But soon, his attention was pulled back to reality when Shiori addressed Hayes. He had a sorrowful look on his face. He was used to it, but it would have been nice for someone to think he could fight before they saw him in action.

"I get that a lot." His ice blue eyes seemed to darken with gloom, and he looked back down. "So, how'd Caim get those, uh, powers? I don't think I've read about anything that can give one powers, excluding fiction, of course."

At the girl's sudden question, the teen looked up, an icy flame alight in his gaze. "Out of my life, huh? Well, I've always wanted to defeat my older brother in a fair fight. One on one. To prove my worth to this town, no, the world." Hayes had gotten over his disgust from the older man's actions and the sadness from only seconds earlier. "They've always thought of me as a freak of nature, someone who could never accomplish great things. If I could defeat Carlos, the one who started this entire mess, I feel like they could see me for what I am. Not just some object that you think can be fixed easily when you break it, but a strong person, whom would take a lifetime to repair only a fraction of the damage caused." He was standing tall at this point, and it looked like he was ready to take on the whole world. Ready to have his revenge for his damnable life, and all the pain he had. And even though he stood strong, anyone could see the single tear, streaming down his face.

Caim had turned his back to the others originally, thinking they were moving on and away from the scene, however when they began talking and comments were made about what he had done, he shrugged and looked back. "Think of it more so as a means of breaking opposing morale than being brutal for the sake of it... the enemies mind and heart can be a powerful weapon against them if one knows how to use it. Regardless, understood Captain" Caim responded to Shiori, explaining his general reasoning for providing such a display.

When Hayes spoke up and asked about his ability, Caim let off a faint sigh and looked towards the man. "I am the one that has eaten the Yowayowa no mi, a Devil Fruit that grants the wielder telekinetic power over objects within ones line of sight. it also provides access to the equivalent of flight, hence my means of entry while you were tied up" Caim responded, figuring that since his power had already been revealed, there was no reason to beat around the Bush.

Caim merely became silent however over his Captain questioning the man, silently listening to Hayes's answer with arms crossed. He wasn't judging the boy, but instead carefully running the response through his mind, picking out every piece of information possible, analysing it for what could be of use. "If that is the goal you wish to accomplish, dedicate your life to it, do whatever you must... If you fail to put your whole heart and soul behind it, failure will always be inevitable... There can never be a substitute for the hard work one must put in to achieve such a goal" He commented, his tone seeming quite serious as he spoke... He was speaking from experience after all, from back when he wanted to become a Helmsman. He understood that there was nothing else but hard work and practice required for one to reach such dreams and to achieve such wishes... Those who hang back and wait for there wishes to just come true from some stroke of luck... Are the true fools after all.

Shiori nodded to Caim to acknowledge his reasons for doing what he had done, but opted not to comment further. It wasn't needed after all.

The tawny haired captain had to force herself not to let the corners of her mouth turn up in a smile at Hayes's words, but managed to keep her expression neutral, her green gaze flicking from Hayes to Caim as he spoke to give hid personal advice to Hayes about the pursuit of his goals. His words only solidified the fact that she'd chosen well for her first crewmate and helmsman.

She did however have another question she needed to ask the cook.
"And how do you feel about us?" she asked simply, waving her hand to signify herself and Caim. To answer the question there was a lot Hayes would have to consider. After all, they were pirates and he'd already expressed his distaste for pirates. Plus there were their respective actions within the previous fighting.

"Wait no," she continued after only the briefest of pauses, suddenly remembering something she'd forgotten. All of the seriousness that had emanated from her outward demeanor seemed to melt away into an air of lightheartedness as she waved her hands in front of her. Her gestures were made in the effort of trying to make sure Hayes didn't speak his mind right there and then.
"Don't answer me now. Think about it," she turned to Caim, hands dropping from their waving motions.
"I need to find that shoemaker!" she revealed urgently, her tone calming as she continued "And we should make sure those twll dîn don't come back. I assume the storekeepers will want to try and recover anything that wasn't destroyed in the fight, anyways. The cobbler has gotta be around here somewhere, right?"

The teen still felt disgusted by Caim's brutality, even after hearing his reasoning. But he wouldn't judge. He was fully aware of how being judged by only one action felt. Soon after, Hayes's thoughts drifted over to the topic of Devil Fruits, something he had very little knowledge of. Certainly, he had known of them, but he thought they were just a legend. Again, his mind moved on, finding themselves facing Caim's speech of sorts.

Well, I wouldn't have been able to fight along side you if I hadn't dedicated my life to this goal already. The coffee haired boy kept the thought to himself, not wanting to anger the man at all. Soon after, at Shiori's question, Hayes opened his mouth to answer, but was immediately stopped by said girl.

"Well, I guess I won't answer it yet, but I do still have to show you where that shoemaker is." His ice blue eyes sparkled once more, already thinking about how he really feels about the duo. In hindsight, he highly doubted that they were lying about being pirates, but they had just saved this town. That was enough to earn his trust. In fact, something else in the back of his mind, in a different voice was saying the same thing. It also told him something else. Go. No matter what, go with them.

It disappeared as fast it came, but there was no mistaking it. It was the same voice that was in all of his nightmares. The same voice that told him not to worry. Hayes assumed that this was why he shouldn't worry. He had finally found his new life, the one that Zoe knew he would find. She was still with him, both in his heart, and on his shoulder.

After his little speech Caim had turned silent and allowed the situation to play out... Despite everything they had done they were still pirates, and they still may not have been welcome. Caim did have this on his mind, but he quickly cleared it away as his captain started talking. Hearing an odd set of words that happened to be quite unfamiliar to him, he seemed puzzled for a moment... ' twll dîn'? What on earth did that mean?

Shrugging his shoulders somewhat, he didn't let the question dwell on his mind after all. "Let's just leave the situation be for now, give it a few hours... I doubt the shops will be open immediately after our fight after all... We should put their safety first instead of our own desires and such" Caim spoke towards his Captain.

Shiori seemed to frown for a small moment at Caim's words, but then perked right up again, "Well we should get started on kicking everyone who isn't welcome back on their boat then I suppose," she replied, not giving much thought to the idea that she and Caim may not be welcome here either. Only Hayes seemed to know they were pirates right now anyways so there wasn't all that much to worry about.

The tawny haired captain promptly marched off to scout the area, double checking that there was no longer any danger to the civilians who resided in the market area.


Shiori flopped down onto the ground and leaned against the wall of one of the buildings. She'd scoured every inch of the area and had decided now was as good a time as any to rest. With a small sigh of relief, she conceded that it appeared that the disgraceful pirates had all been removed from the port town.

Looking up, the tawny haired captain had a good view of the sky. It was no longer a vast blue as it had been earlier that day, but had begun to take on a faint orange colour towards the horizon, akin to that of the leaves beginning to turn in autumn.

With a small smile, Shiori watched the sky, relaxing for a few moments after being non stop ever since the fighting started all those hours ago.

Hayes stopped turning around to run off to the shoemaker's at Caim's word. He almost blushed from embarrassment, and looked back at the duo. "Yes, yes of course. Haha, we can't expect the citizens to be ready to do business just yet." The teen chuckled nervously, and bashfully rubbed his arm. A few moments later, Hayes followed the girl, ready to knock around some more of the bastards who attacked his home.


After a ton of thinking, Hayes had finally decided on a good way for how he felt about Caim and Shiori. He jumped around on top of buildings until he spotted the teen he was looking for, and scrambled down the wall across from her.

"Hey." He said with a grin on his young face, "I think I figured out a fine answer for your earlier question. I'm not really good with words, so it's a bit short." Hayes let out a small bit of laughter, something he hadn't done much of for a long while. "Here goes nothing. So, your pirates. I despise them, but for some reason, I can trust you two. And you helped save my home, and for that, I am very grateful. No has shown me this much kindness in quite some time, either. So, you're cool in my books."

Speaking of books, I still have to finish that one hidden under my bed. He smiled softly at the thought. Five years and counting. Not a soul knows of those 'special' novels' existence. And he planned to keep it that way.

Caim had merely been following his Captain during the hunt for additional Pirates that could have slipped by during the attack on the Pirate vessel, aiming to ensure the protection of his captain just in case something actually did occur that led to violence... He had to do his duty after all, he had to ensure the safety of his crewmates after all. When she had slowed to a stop next to one of the buildings, Caim had taken a seat on the roof of the structure, keeping his eyes constantly open and his head on a swivel, aiming to ensure the safety of both himself and the Captain... the civilians were a secondary concern.

When Hayes approached via the rooftops, Caim moved away slightly so that he wouldn't be in the way, no point in obstructing the path of one he had fought alongside... one the Captain somewhat trusted. When Hayes began to speak up, Caim merely crossed his arms and allowed it to happen. So this one trusted them did he? Despite the revelation of their roles he trusted them.

Caim didn't make a single comment during the speech that Hayes had made, finding it a disrespectful idea to do so.

Shiori curiously turned away from the sky as Hayes marched over to her. She could almost sense the purpose in his gait, the cook having been searching for the young captain specifically to answer her question from earlier that day.

The tawny haired pirate remained seated as she listened to the cook's words, though the content smile that had been etched into her face as she gazed out at the horizon did not falter. In fact, her smile only grew wider.
"Really!" she exclaimed with a grin, not waiting for Hayes to confirm a yes or no to that particular question before she got to her feet, flashing a small glance to Caim before she returned her attention to the cook.

"In that case I have a proposition for you," she began, pausing for a brief moment as if to gather her words. Her expression turned a little more serious as she realised that it was still possible and entirely plausible for Hayes to refuse.

"Join my crew."

It wasn't particularly a question, but neither was it a demand. One could call it more of a suggestion.
"We plan to sail the Grand Line and, to put it quite simply, you're an amazing cook and I like you," she added with a smile, "It's just us at the moment, but our kitchen's all yours if you want to come with," she chuckled.

The young teen ran his fingers through his hair, using his opened mouth to let out another chuckle. He was just about to respond, but hadn't the time to. Shiori had already started talking again. He took a moment to think after the girl quieted. He reached a conclusion.

"Hmm, I never thought I would see the day that I would join a pirate crew." Hayes chuckled to himself, glee exuding from his laughter and grin. After a minute, he recollected himself and began speaking again.

"All I need to do now is tell my parents." As soon as those last words jumped out of the taxi that was his mouth, he was shot with realization. The joyful life that danced in his ice blue eyes died suddenly. He had completely forgotten. "Oh no. My parents. They would never approve of this. Maybe I should just tell them how I feel. Maybe they will understand."

His look was one of nervous tension. This was quite possibly the first time he would ever disagree with his parents about pirates. He just had to fill himself with as much hope as he could muster, not to mention courage. He looked back at Shiori, whom's presence he had completely forgotten about at the time.

Caim merely looked towards his Captain with a seemingly calm expression, but in actuality he was quite surprised at her offer... Was that all it took to buy her loyalty? Showing a personality she approved of and fighting? Caim felt like speaking up, but from her prior glance, he knew not to. This was her choice and like it or not, she was his superior. His focus turned towards the chuckling male, him bowing his head respectfully.

When Hayes spoke up about joining, he understood what the response meant as a clear as day, a yes. The comment about his Parents however caused Caim to shake his head. "Even if they don't, this is something that is personal to you. It is only fair that they have their opinion and know of this... But if you are to be a Pirate, you need to be able to take those opinions and then keep moving with what you believe in, regardless of what they say" Caim spoke, understanding this from his own experiences.