Navigational Woes - (III)

"Shit."

That was the only word going through Kerri's mind at the moment as he attempted to speed away from his pursuers, cutting through the water like a knife through butter. He had only popped his head up out of the water for a few seconds, but it had been enough for them to spot him. The wrong place at the wrong time he supposed, but before he had realised what was happening, the boat had loomed up behind him. It was his mistake to breach the surface of the ocean and now he was paying for it.

A net was dropped into the water, the merman nimbly dodging it with his superior underwater agility. Unfortunately, he dodged straight into the shot of a speargun, the pointed weapon piercing Kerri just below his shoulder.

Above the water, the culprits of the attack were gathered on the one side of their ship, staring down into the water as the red filtered through it's depths. One man, who's rather opulent looking hat did nothing to hide his lack of hygiene, slapped the man carrying the base of the speargun.
"You're not supposed to damage the merchandise, goddamn it!" He yelled, spittle flying from his mouth.

The second man shrunk backwards at these words, clinging to the speargun as if it were a lifeline. He was incredibly relieved when his captain turned around to motion to crew members further up the deck.
"Drop the seastone one!"

Back in the water, Kerri was attempting to pull the spear from his body. Before he could register it's descent through the water, the seastone net was upon him, tangling the young merman within it's mesh-like walls.



A short distance of the ocean away, a small ship was sailing through the cold morning breezes. Although the ship didn't have much of a crow's nest, one individual was hanging off the mast. For most, it would be a mystery how she got up there, but for those who were used to her personality - those who traveled on her ship - it would be a normal occurrence.

Holding on to the mast with one arm and balancing herself with her feet, Shiori shielded her eyes with her remaining arm, squinting at something in the distance. It looked like there was another ship over there. Perhaps it belonged to pirates? She could quite tell as it seemed that the sails had been taken down temporarily.

Hayes donned his pink apron as he worked around in the kitchen, looking for a couple of pans and some utensils. Bending down to get his favorites out of the cupboard, he remembered back to the good times he had, making different dishes with these. He rubbed the bottom lovingly as he took it out.

Setting it on the stove, he started the fire to heat it up. He pulled out some sausages and eggs, starting to work on heating them up. As those started to cook, he pulled out some fruits and cream, making those into smoothies.

A few minutes later, Hayes held multiple plates and cups of food and drink, all set on trays. He brought them to the table just outside of the kitchen, and went outside of the cabin.

"Breakfast is done!" The man called out, ringing the bell next to the door. He glanced up and saw Shiori dangling from the mast. He sighed, shook his head and just wondered why she did such things. "Come and get it!"

"Ship ahoy!" Called Shiori, before she leaped down from the mast, landing perfectly on her feet, knees bending to break her fall. The tawny haired girl, hop-skipped towards the small ship's even smaller galley, following the few other crew members that were aboard.

Looking at the small gathering of individuals, she spoke, "There's definitely a ship of some sort over there. I hate to interrupt a good breakfast, but they've pulled their sails down so I can't tell if they're hostile or not."

Following these words, she wandered over to the table, nabbing a plate full of food for herself and then walking back over to the side of the ship. She began to eat where she was stood, watching the unidentified ship for any odd movements. She squinted as they started to pull something out of the water. A net of some sort? Perhaps they were merely fishing.

Hayes nodded at Shiori as she fell down from the mast. He looked over, and there was indeed a ship. He followed her back in along with the others, grabbing his own plate.

"Knowing these seas, they're probably pirates. Though, I could be wrong." The brown haired main shrugged his shoulders, walking back out with his captain. Even though he was a pirate himself, now, he still felt hatred to the outlaws. It was a weird feeling, hating and loving what he was. He had his own reasons, though, not anything to do with what people said pirates were like.

As he set his breakfast down on the railing and began to cut it, he watched the people on the other ship pull up some sort of net. He couldn't quite make out what was in it, but he could only assume it was fish.

"What do you think? Pirates, Marines, just a crew of fishermen?" The young man asked as he took a bite out of his egg. His gaze rested on Shiori for a moment as he spoke. He turned away to watch the boat in the distance again.

The tawny haired captain just stared out at the other ship for a few moments whilst she ate her food, watching them haul up the nets they'd cast into the water. Either way, it seemed that whatever sort of ship they were, they had yet to notice their small ship. They could either attempt to keep it that way, or just head straight on over.

"I think we should wait to find out. They'll show their true colours soon enough."

The serious look on Shiori's face switched to that of a large grin rather suddenly however, as she turned to Hayes. With her empty plate in hand, it seemed she had wolfed down her food rather quickly.
"Thanks for breakfast though! It was super tasty!" she chuckled before heading back over to the galley to leave her dirty plate in the sink.

Almost immediately, she returned to the side of the ship, a thoughtful expression on her face as she observed the other ship. They had finally hauled in their catch enough that she could see the beginnings of whatever it was they'd caught. Whatever it was, it was very blue... and somewhat human?

"I think it's a giant fish," Shiori commented, shading her eyes with one hand and squinting as she leaned over the side of the ship trying to get a clearer look, "And yet a person at the same time?"

One of the crew members - Anil - who had joined them temporarily blinked at this commend, tilting his head to the side in curiosity. "You mean, like a mermaid?" he asked, joining Shiori at the side of the boat and trying to get view for himself.

"I suppose you're right." Hayes said softly, resting his head on his hand. He couldn't shake off this bad feeling he had. He smiled as he watched his captain leave. He hadn't even finished half of his plate yet, and she was already going to put away her plate. "No problem. It's what I do."

He continued eating, just waiting and watching the ship. Once Shiori came back and she had made a comment on the contents of the net, he realized she was dead on. He had to squint a little bit to fully see it, but he managed.

"I had read about merpeople and fishmen before. I never knew that people would try to catch them or anything." The chef ran back to the kitchen, stuffing his remaining food in his mouth. Through his barrier of meat and eggs, he called out to Shiori. 'I'm finkin' we go shave fat merperfon!"

"I thought they were just legends of the Grand Line..." Anil replied, a little awe in his voice at the idea of such legends existing, "I never believed they'd actually be real, let alone seen in the blues like this."

Shiori looked to Anil as he spoke, "Perhaps they have a reason for being outside the Grand Line?" she mused out loud, before nodding to Hayes, a small chuckle at his food-filled cheeks.
"You're right though. Why they're here doesn't matter. We can't just let them be captured in a net like that."

Turning back to the rest of the boat, "Can we change the direction of our ship? Aim for that one!" she called, one of the temporary crew members that had joined them for their trip to Fairwell quickly jumping into action and performing the necessary actions in order to change the boat's direction.



Back in the net, Kerri was inwardly panicking. He had no idea how to get out of this sort of situation. Even the small number of combat techniques he'd learned before he'd left Fishman Island couldn't do anything against a net made with sea stone... and then there was his new injury to deal with...
Kerri winced as the hauling up of the net jostled the spear that was still impaled near his shoulder. perhaps he could wait until they opened the net, and break his way to freedom that way?

It seemed like it'd be his only chance.

Hayes rushed into the kitchen, hastily setting his plate next to the sink and pulling his apron off. He jumped and slid over the counter into the dining area, grabbing his sheathed dagger seamlessly. He dashed back out of the room onto the deck to watch as the ship grew larger as they moved towards it.

"Gah! I hate this!" The man yelled, starting to pace back and forth in worry. He looked back at the ship, his face painted with impatience. "I just want to save this person already! Can't this ship go any faster?!"

He didn't really need an answer, and he wasn't really looking for one. He was angered that there were people out there that would try to capture a merperson. He felt that the fact that they were different from humans was why they wanted to capture them, but what would they do with a merperson, anyways? He knew slavery was illegal, so it couldn't be that, could it?

"Nope, but I can. I'll go on ahead," Shiori replied. The ship was taking longer than she'd like and knowing that she could be faster with her own abilities, she decided to make use of them. She hated to leave her backup behind, but on the plus side there would be less chance for them to get hurt if she went in first.

Bracing herself for a moment, the tawny haired pirate propelled herself into the air with the use of her Wave Step. A few more aerial steps where she would concentrate the water molecules beneath her feet and use them to propel herself forwards, and she would reach the other ship. Shiori took out one of her throwing knives from within her blue jacket and threw it towards the net that was keeping the merperson captive.

Although the knife clearly made contact with one of ropes that made up the net, it made a sort of clang sound and bounced off, dropping into the ocean.

Shiori immediately regretted throwing the knife. She had expected it to get stuck in the ship's hull after cutting through part of the ropes, but instead it was now falling into the depths where she would probably never get it back. It was saddening, considering that those knives had been a gift to her, but small frown aside, Shiori had other matters to attend to for the time being. She'd have to relay the information that the net wasn't entirely made of rope when the others got here though.

Landing on the enemy ship's deck, the crew members immediately scattered backwards a few paces in surprise. Shiori took this opportunity to launch herself forwards, lashing out with one leg towards the man who was hauling the net upwards and onto the boat.

Hayes saw Shiori jump off into the water, and suddenly propel herself towards the other ship. He knew he couldn't do that, but he thought of a better option than waiting on the ship. He set the blade of his weapon into his mouth and looked back at the ship, nodding at his idea. Quickly taking off his shirt and shoes, leaving only his pants, he dove into the water, his dagger held between clenched teeth.

He swam as fast as he could to the captured merperson, who he could tell was male as he neared the ship. He was just faster than the small boat he was on before, enough so that he made it to a ladder on the enemy's ship a few minutes before everyone else got there.

After climbing up onto the deck, he took note of everyone being distracted by his captain. He used this opportunity to sneak over to the net that the merman was trapped in. After pulling it up, he tried to cut it open, only to find that it didn't work. He couldn't exactly tell what it was made of, but the net was certainly not normal rope.

"OK, then. Plan B." He whispered to himself, searching for a knot of sorts to free the merman.

Kerri's one hand hovered over the spear that was still stuck in his shoulder. He couldn't quite muster up the guts to just rip it out in case he started bleeding and couldn't get it to stop, but he was sure that leaving it in wasn't exactly the best course of action either.

He was quickly distracted however by the appearance of something flying? It was headed towards the boat. Before he knew it, some sort of projectile also came from the flying creature, colliding with the net and bouncing off because of it's seastone components. Was the flying thing trying to help him?

The merman watched the rather polished looking throwing knife sink into the ocean, glancing back up to the flying creature. Now that it was closer, Kerri could tell that it was in fact a person - a girl by the looks of it. She seemed to be disappointed that her knife had sunk into the ocean, but left it be and promptly landed on the ship where she began fighting with the ship's crew.

Kerri sure hoped that this wild girl wasn't someone else who wanted to sell him off. Ugh, he'd had enough of these people today.

He felt a little like a spectator as he watched another person - a boy this time - climb up onto the boat. With more and more people gathering, and what looked to be a second boat approaching, Kerri wanted less and less to be here. The merman turned to the nearest section of rope and began chewing at it with his shark-like teeth. Surely all of this couldn't be made of seastone. Perhaps there'd be a weaker area he could break through.

Before he knew it though, Kerri had been pulled up onto the boat, net and all and was watching the boy who had climbed up onto the boat attempting to hack away at the net with a knife.

"It's seastone. You're not going to get through it with a knife," Kerri commented unhelpfully before adding under his breath so that the person wouldn't hear: "Idiot." If these people were going to steal him and sell him off the least they could do was learn how to cut a net properly.

At least he was acting in Kerri's best interests at this point. If this guy managed to open the net, the merman could easily fight him off with what few skills he'd learned before he'd left Fishman Island. A single scrawny human with a knife he could handle... it was the girl and the large crew of this boat he was worried about.

Glancing over to the girl, Kerri could see that she was holding off a rather fair number of individuals with her kicks, blocking the occasional sword with her knives or the sole of her boot. The kicking techniques were what interested him though, as some of them were very clearly making use of a form of Fishman Karate. He had no idea where she'd learned it, but he knew his own skill level was way below that of this tawny haired girl.

As the man looked around for anything tying this net together, he noted what the merman had said. He had heard of seastone before, and the properties it held. He sheathed his dagger as he continued his search.

Meanwhile, one of the men on the ship, who had immediately gotten away from Shiori, hiding away from the clear damage, had noticed another person climb aboard the ship. The other intruder didn't look like much. Not overly muscular, there's maybe enough on him to lift 35 kilograms. He had a knife, but that was about it. He couldn't be hiding much in only pants, after all.

The man watched as he hoisted the net with their prize tangled inside. He knew this was his chance. He couldn't be scolded later for hiding away if he could get something out of it. The brutish looking fellow did his best to sneak around, hiding behind boxes and crates as he made his way to the young man. It seemed like the girl never saw him, and the man was still focused on the net, so he pulled out his sword, a long blade with nothing real special about it.

He took his first step from behind the barrel he was crouching next to. He took another step closer, pulling up his weapon. As he took he final step to get into range of the man, the boards beneath him creaked.

Hayes looked behind him to see a rather large man ready to bring down his blade upon him. He had a split second to react, and rolled out of the way, unsheathing his dagger as he tumbled.

"I can't let you have our merchandise!" The man said, his voice gravelly and deep. "We're gonna strike it big with this here merman!"

"Man, fuck you." The chef took a step back before charging in, cutting into the man a few times. "Multi-Slash!"

The large enemy stumbled back a bit, surprised that such a small person could actually harm him. He took another swing at Hayes with his sword, but found himself on the ground, his face next to the net. The young man had swept below his opponent's attack, using his legs and the other man's momentum to trip him.

"Maybe next time don't try selling another sentient being. It might not cause you to get your ass royally whooped by someone like me." Hayes said coolly, stepping on the man's back with one foot.

As Kerri was watching the tawny haired girl fight, he missed the lone brute moving towards himself and the scrawny guy who was attempting to free him. It was the creak of the wood that made up the ships's deck that drew his attention towards him. Before he could warn the scrawny kid of the man's appearance, he had already seen him. The two got into a brief fight, with Kerri shuffling backwards in his net a few paces to keep away from anything that might injure him further.

As the man's face landed next to the net however, Kerri's expression broadened into a rather menacing looking grin.
"Yea, fuck you," he grinned before biting down on the man's nose with his shark-like teeth. The man gave a yelp of pain, the bite drawing blood before Kerri left go. The merman then wiped his mouth to remove the taste of blood. Perhaps biting the man hadn't been the most dignified way of getting back at him, but it sure was amusing how loud he had been. Kerri stuck his tongue out at the man for a brief moment before looking back to where the girl was still fighting off the brunt of the crew.

At this point there were a couple of them who had been knocked out, either by quick dodges from Shiori causing them to hit each other or with a swift kick to the head. Figuring it was easier to just leave as soon as they'd accomplished their goal, Shiori called out to her own crewmate.
"Hayes! How's it going over there?" she asked, keeping her group of opponents as occupied as she could, consistently blocking them off if they made a move toward Hayes.

Meanwhile, Kerri was feeling a little better about his situation after the scrawny kid's words. It seemed him and his female crewmate weren't going to sell him off after all. Perhaps they really were only here to help him out?

That being said, he would remain cautious and probably not stick around too long after they did free him. He wasn't about to take that chance.

Hayes took his foot and slammed it into the man's head, knocking him out so he wouldn't be much more of a problem. He was glad that the merman seemed to be more than eager to fight these bastards, too.

"It's going fine over here. Some guy tried to sneak up on me, but I took care of him." The cook called back to his captain before continuing his search for a knot in the net. He chuckled a little at Shiori's concern. He was lucky to follow such a kind person. "Don't worry about me right now, though. We can't have a crew without a captain, right?"

After another minute without interruption, he found something trying the net all together. It was a fairly simple knot, one he used to tie off crates of food. It couldn't take him more than a minute to undo.

"So, I'm Hayes." The pirate made small talk as he started to untie the knot. He thought he may as well introduce himself to the merman he was attempting to save. "What's your name, if you don't mind me asking?"

Shiori nodded at Hayes' reply, although he couldn't particularly see such a response. She was at least glad that he was doing alright though. At least she was doing her best to protect him by holding off all of these other people. She giggled a little bit at Hayes's next words though, replying as she kicked the head of yet another enemy, "True! But what is a captain without her crew!"

Kerri listened to the exchange with a interest. It seemed as if those two had a lot of trust in each other. Their relationship was better than the people on this godforsaken boat anyways. All they seemed to do was complain at each other. Ugh.

His attention was brought back to the scrawny knife wielding kid when he addressed him directly. Kerri's inhuman blue eyes watched him for a short moment before he replied, "Kerrigan..." There was no harm in telling the stranger his name after all. It was not like one could track him with such a word.