Narrative
Thoughts
"Dialogue
Skoll
Hakucha
Mysterious Figure
Pistolero
Hakucha had been completely off guard by Katsumi's question. She stood motionless in place with a bewildered expression on her face, still holding eye contact with Katsumi as his words echoed over and over again through her mind.
"Why do you want to become the Pirate King?"
....What is that supposed to mean?
Hakucha looks away from Katsumi and fixates her gaze on the Horizon to the ship's starboard side, the sun's light glistening off of the fluxuating waves.
Why?? What kind of question is that...every pirate wants to be the Pirate King...isn't that why every Pirate sets sail in the first place??
A memory flashes to the surface of Hakucha's mind of a time before she even knew what a Pirate was:
Running along the shore of her home island, the waves crashing into the sand and the wind blowing through her hair. It had almost been like a dream, when that massive Galleon adorned with golden sails and a Black Flag appeared out of thin air in the ocean just feet away from her. She fell back in shock, and watched as a well-dressed figure stood aboard the bow, the Sun beaming down behind him causing his silhouette to be mostly be shadowed, the wind blowing his loose regal clothing elegantly.
Before Hakucha could even process what her young mind was even looking at, the figure appeared on the shore before her, a well-dressed gentlemen with clean black hair, garbed in Noble attire.
She recalled sitting motionless, staring in awe at the figure who towered above her, the Sun beams glistening outwards from behind him, giving him the appearance of some larger-than-life figure. Those first words that he spoke to her still stood out in her mind, as if she had only heard them a moment ago:
“Hello there, little one...how far from home have you strayed?”
"Don't sully yourself, Captain. I'll clear your path."
Hakucha turns to see an extremely large, muscular figure standing right next to her. His appearance was similar to that of a seasoned gunslinger, though extremely tall and muscular, his face covered with a striped bandanna and his eyes protected from the beaming sun above.
Hakucha sat in place paralyzed with fear as the gunslinger's left boot hovered above her, a moment away from smashing her into the earth. The noble figure calmly places his right hand on the gunslinger's shoulder.
"I am always grateful for your concern, Pistolero. But this won't be necessary. Please make sure our ship is docked safely."
The nobleman's voice was gentle, yet simultaneously not lacking in confidence or authority. The figure's boot returns to the ground as Hakucha's heartrate slows. Even underneath the shade provided by his hat, Hakucha could clearly see the man's lifeless grey eyes fixated on her in disgust. As the gunslinger turns to walk away, the regal figure squats down close to Hakucha with that same hand extended out towards her, his palm opened as if to help her back up to her feet. The sunbeams still made it impossible for Hakucha to get a good look at his facial features.
"Don't be afraid. No harm will come to you now."
Hakucha looks back up towards Katsumi as this experience returns to her memory.
"..I'll answer that question but...I'm not quite sure how yet. The words wouldn't come out right if I answered you now." Hakucha turns away from Katsumi, making a conscious effort to clear her mind before the Black Death had finished carrying she and her allies to Alabasta.
Meanwhile:
"Mine dear comrade Skoll, I doth possess a rough idea on how to proceed."
Skoll looks downward towards Malcolm as his crew and allies begin going over action-plans for the upcoming operation.
"As thee stated, our crew is unknown. It is in fact so unknown that we possess no bounties, no infamy and no stigma to our names. None are aware of who we are and I believe it to be possible to use that to our advantage."
The aged adventurer started to slowly pace in front of the giant, his hands folded behind his back.
"Before I swore mine oath to the Captain, I was a respected mercenary whose name was fairly notorious across the Four Blues. Considering my concealing attire at Loguetown then as far as anyone is aware.... Mine blade is still for hire."
Malcolm caesed his pacing and looked up towards Skoll with a sly twinkle in his eye.
"An unknown pirate crew with no allies would be vulnerable but what of a mercenary band hired by the Nefertari royal family to rid Alabasta of it's more malignant problems such as, say, a particularly troublesome local Warlord?"
“Fuck you’re right, there’s no way tha Royal Family let alone random citizens would jus smile and wave at us if we jus started an all out war against a Government sanctioned Pirate. Would your name ring enough bells that tha Royal Family would put that kinda trust into you? Let alone if they see me or Katsumi anywhere within a few feet of you guys? Cause in case you didn’t hea, we attacked a Marine Base not too long ago and I’m pretty sure tha base commander knows our names, so if that’s shit got published, we’ll have a bullseye on us….”
Sighing at our current predicament before seating myself on the deck I tried to think up any solutions to our current dilemma
“Hey Ole Skool! That isn’t a bad idea, but you sure you got tha right targets?”
I couldn’t help a grin from growing as a ghost of a plan started to piece together in my head
“If we assume that’s true, then it’s a guarantee that some of tha people aren’t gonna take that abuse sitting down. So there’s gotta be an anti Royal faction in Alabasta right? If we’re able to link up with them and earn a lil good faith, it’ll be much easier to move round tha place. Plus they’ll know where all tha Top guys should generally be at. They’d definitely be more inclined to accept your aid than tha Nefertiti Family who already got burned by Pirates….as long as you kan show them that accepting your help is to their benefit”
Tucking my hand under my chin in a thinking pose, I continued with the idea that had popped into my head
“We’d have to split up between our crews, some of us ingratiate with tha anti royalist, some of us see if we kan get a tab on tha Nefertiti Family and see if any of these reports are even true. That way we’re not going through this half cocked and only getting whatever info they choose to share. We should also consider that Crocodile could be running interference to build his grip on Alabasta and make his Coup easier. What you think Skoll, Malcolm, Hakucha?”
"I doth believe that offering our services to the Royal Family is potentially in our greatest interests if we are to acquire the form of payment that I hath in mind."
Glancing up to the colossus on the ship, the aged adventurer spoke up.
"Skoll, it would take a great deal of resources to construct a ship fit for a giant, especially one as gargantuan as thee. The materials required to construct such a vessel could have instead constructed perhaps a half dozen of ships. As such, I had in mind that we could offer our combined might in order to acquire such a mighty ship as our payment for services rendered."
Malcolm paused for a moment, a bony finger tapping on his chin in thought before continuing.
"However, requesting such payment limits our choice of employer drastically. In this arid land of vast desert, wood will be in short supply and great demand. The Rebel Forces will likely be in no position to deliver such a demand due to their limited resources and if Baroque Works are truly under the thumb of the Warlord that we seek to defeat then demanding any payment from that organisation is pointless. Thus, that leaves the Royal Family as the only faction capable of fulfilling such a specific desire."
Malcolm frowned slightly, his finger ceasing it's motions as he did so.
"Of course, there doth be no guarantee that the Royal Family will even consider hiring us. Mine plan is admittedly stretching what could be considered plausible. In the end, we may have to simply steal the largest ship that we come across and modify it as best we can."
Retuning his gaze to Rihan, Malcolm continued to speak.
"Regardless of what happens, Mister Rihan is quite right in advising us to not place all our eggs in one basket as it were. Flexibility will be vital to our survival and having the ability to change allies at the drop of a hat would be most beneficial. If we could infiltrate the Royalists, the Rebels and Baroque Works simultaneously then that could offer ourselves the greatest flexibility."
Questions concerning the logistics of such a plan began flitting through Malcolm's mind.
"We doth need to hammer out the fine details however. Whom would be best suited to infiltrate which faction? How would we communicate with each other? Would it be best that we pretend to be a single mercenary group or multiple smaller groups? Hmmm.... Well, I would say that we doth need to acquire new garments regardless. Looking akin to drowned vermin makes for poor presentation for employability. I hath coin aplenty for our needs and in a land as harsh as this, it is standard practice to cover one's face with garments to block out the sand. All the better to conceal our identities with when necessary."
Skoll let out a soft chuckle as his allies below had begun to draw up plans of attack.
It seems I've given my comrades the wrong impression. Perhaps I shouldn't have spoken out loud, perhaps my thoughts should've remained thoughts...For a Jotun, there is never a need to plan for a battle. We see an enemy, we attack that enemy. We identify an objective, we go after that objective head-on. Infiltration, alliances, politics...I have never concerned myself with such things, nor have my people.
Skoll's white eyes pass blankly from Malcolm, Rihan, and Kyria as each of them offers up there own input and suggestions.
...But perhaps this is a role I must fulfill with my new allies? Among the Jotun of old, I served among the Vanguard. I was among the first to charge in to battle, and there was never a need for me to consider the rhyme or reason behind my methodology. That was left to my betters. To Bjorngarr, to Fenrir, to Hati...but now...
"Your plan can work, Malcolm. The royal family will likely be desperate for help right now. The World Government sending Marines to investigate Crocodile may as well be a diversionary tactic to make the rest of the world forget about this news story. They care too much about the balance of power to actually remove a Shichibukai for something like this."
Hakucha had walked back over to where her crew and allies were, her arms resting on her hips as she pondered everything she had heard so far.
"Of course, the royal family of Alabasta is a Kingdom affiliated with the World Government. If we're going to approach them, we should do it quietly and in secret. No one can know that they've had any contact with us, or they'll never agree to our terms, especially if Rihan and Katsumi have already gotten into a fight with the Marines."
Hakucha points directly at Malcolm.
"Malcolm, consider this your captain's orders! You are to infiltrate the Royal Palace in Alabasta under the cover of darkness, and secretly gain the King's agreement to pay us for our services once we have gotten rid of Crocodile for him!"
Hakucha shifts her finger towards Kyria.
"Kyria! You have ties to the Revolutionary Army. Therefore, I'm sure the Alabastan Revolutionaries would be receptive to you reaching out to them. This way, we can play both sides as Malcolm suggested."
Hakucha turns and looks towards Rihan and Katsumi.
"Rihan, Kastumi, you two aren't a part of my crew, so I can't tell either of you what to do, but it would be best if you were to split up. One of you go with Malcolm, and one with Kyria."
Skoll looks downwards at Hakucha with a soft smile under his giant beard.
Ahh, of course. If I were to speak up now, it would undermine Hakucha's authority as my captain. And the plan seems good enough.
"Zodd!" Hakucha snaps her fingers as she calls the Parrot's name. Zodd flies out from below the deck of the ship, with a bag dangling in his beak. He drops the bag right in front of Hakucha's feet as he flies up towards the Crow's nest of the Black Death.
"Inside this bag are Den Den Mushi's. Each of us should take one, and that will allow us to stay in touch with each other. For now, I'm going to stay behind and begin repairs on the Black Death, as I promised. Skoll!"
At this, Skoll lifts himself off of the Black Death and stands knee-deep in the ocean next to the ship, still towering over his crewmates and allies. The cool sea-water violently stings his burnt legs as his feet find the sea-floor below.
"It appears we already have guests. I already have a Den Den Mushi, so I will go ahead and greet them. May the Allfathers watch over you all!"
Skoll turns away from the Black Death and begins wading his way through the glistening ocean waves, out towards the Sea behind the ship. Sailing over the Horizon were almost a dozen ships bearing a peculiar emblem on their sails.
Even from as far away as they were, Skoll could hear voices shouting from aboard them.
"That's a black-flag alright!"
"Look at the size of that one! Yep, those have got to be Pirates!!"
"Full-speed ahead, there's bound to be some bounty-heads among them!!"
Skoll grips Tartarus in both of his hands as he walks out towards the ships.
This is what's needed from me, for now. I'll place my trust in my allies to see us to victory.
@Owl Ki @Beerbottle @Mr. Anderson @Jiihad