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Post by Kyubey on Aug 28, 2014 1:32:22 GMT -5
Harry had no intention of calming down, and whatever threats Akki had for him seemed like nothing. Compared to what he was used to hearing, her threatening to put him to sleep, in her relatively soothing voice, seemed absolutely pleasant. But he was too blinded by rage to listen to reason, anyways, and her words barely registered at all. It seemed that, the more restricted he was, the more enraged he became as well, and his energy did not seem to cease. And now that he was more helpless than ever, he was screaming madly, both from his own fury and from the pain that Akki's weight was causing him. He did stop thrashing once Akki sat on him, however, knowing that it would do no good. At the moment, if he had any chance at all, he needed to focus what strength he had.
His two greatest assets, his speed and his dexterity, were useless right away, not to mention his weapon being restrained, and close to being taken away. If he could free the third, he could also regain the first two. Trying to focus all the force he could, he raised his right fist, and, bracing himself for the pain, brought it down on his his left, the hand that was holding the knife, and presumably the one that Akki was grabbing at. Though he was hurting himself, he knew that as long as he was hurting her too, there was the possibility that she would loosen her grip, allowing him to wrestle his knife hand away, even if only for a moment. If he managed that, his choices would become much more clear.
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Post by Shark a' Pult on Sept 6, 2014 18:18:54 GMT -5
Harry's gambit, although awkward in motion, proved to have some effect. At the very least because she wasn't expecting it, his free hand knocked hers from his own. She didn't want to get stabbed though, and so acted quickly, moving to her feet.
"Alright, fine. I tried though."
In one solid effort, she tried to push him away with a foot. It wasn't so much that she just kicked him, and more that she placed her foot against his side and pressed as hard as she could manage in the hope that he would go rolling. Not too far, assuming it even worked to begin with, since she wasn't that strong. If anything, she just hoped it would get him farther than he could immediately lash out at her with the knife, and also further away from the harp which she then moved to take a seat beside. Assuming of course, her ploy worked, and Harry couldn't stop her.
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Post by Kyubey on Sept 7, 2014 3:49:22 GMT -5
Harry almost couldn't believe his plan had worked, but when it did, he was ready and eager. He slashed in Akki's direction, intending to get at least one strike in while they were both still down and in such close proximity, but to his dismay she had stood before his knife could find her, forcing the boy to scramble quickly to his feet.
He was already halfway to a standing position when her foot connected with his side. Normally, he would have been faster. If he was at his absolute best, he could have attacked in seconds. But, to his misfortune, he was still a little winded from being sat on by someone much heavier than he was. He stumbled backwards, managing to catch himself, but only after a degree of distance had been achieved. If Akki had actually kicked him, he might have recoiled a bit more, and as it was did get shoved back a little, but, being mostly upright, and there not being that much force behind her push, he didn't find himself hurt at all. From the moment Akki moved away from him, Harry had lunged forward, knife thrusting and voice now ragged from screaming incoherently. Now that he was on his feet, she would have found his speed surprising. Having spent years running through ships, carrying gunpowder in the midst of cannonfire and other enemy attacks, he was much faster than the average boy, to put it modestly. The distance Akki created was cleared within a single moment, and if she did not act quickly, his weapon would sure enough find its mark.
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Post by Shark a' Pult on Sept 17, 2014 20:06:39 GMT -5
Harry's attack hit home, but probably not in the manner he had hoped. Holding the knife as he was, it stuck out of Akki's forearm, raised to protect herself. Blood trickled down the blade, and the pain was clear to see in her face, but she wasn't defeated by any measure.
"Alright, that's enough."
With her free hand, she pulled her fingers across the strings to produce a bold tune. Without warning, an unseen applied force roughly equivalent to a baseball bat, would be delivered directly to the front of Harry's knees.
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Post by Kyubey on Sept 26, 2014 0:12:09 GMT -5
Akki's attack certainly connected. That much would have been made clear by the distinct cracking sound, swiftly drowned out by an elongated scream. The agonized shout pierced the air, enough to possibly cause pain to anyone nearby in of itself. If it wasn't for the fact that the sound was coming from Harry's open mouth, it wasn't likely that anyone could have guessed it came from a child at all. So enraged and so pained it was, it sounded far more bestial than human. Blood from Harry's knees spurted forward, and would have fallen at Akki's feet. Still, through the pain, there was still the spark of ferocity in the boy's eyes.
Most likely contrary to what Akki was expecting, Harry did not fall backwards, nor did he drop straight down. Considering the damage done to his knees, it was sure that he wasn't able to stand, but he wasn't giving up either. Instead, he lurched straight forward, in Akki's direction. His hand still clutched his knife, and he never retracted his weapon after lodging it in her arm. He pressed all his weight forward onto her, enough to at least drive the blade in deeper.
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Post by Shark a' Pult on Oct 7, 2014 22:50:29 GMT -5
The problem was not that Akki had not planned for Harry to continue his assault. He was clearly a lively boy and tough to boot, and while her attack was meant to put him out of commission, she didn't think it would put too significant a stop to his efforts. The problem was the way he reacted, when her hand was still on the harp. She didn't have the time or chance to withdraw from the instrument, and so when the boy fell forward he pushed her arm with him, and her hand across the strings.
Without the order of her controlled harmony, a horrendous sound shrieked forth, that let loose an unbounded amount of destructive power. Not even Akki was safe from it, and she blasted backwards and through the railings, clear off the deck of the boat with a scream. The rest of the immediate area was ripped up in completely random intervals and locations until the sound stopped. Entire sections of flooring were stripped away, walls were pared without rhyme or reason, and the remaining furniture in the area was splintered asunder.
What this meant for the pirates though, remained to be seen.
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Post by Kyubey on Oct 19, 2014 22:45:47 GMT -5
As the blast erupted forth, Harry was knocked backwards, now screaming in fear rather than rage. He was blown across the deck like a doll, skittering along the floor, until he limply came to a stop, just at the far edge, his broken knees dangling off the side. He was completely still, his faint breathing being the only indication that he survived the ordeal.
Like the other tables in the vicinity, the pirate's table was knocked back by the sudden burst, as were the slumbering pirates along with it. The rested bodies of the sailors landed harshly on the deck, in a crumpled heap. There was a moment of stillness, and then some signs of movement. It was slight at first, a twitch of the finger, followed by eyes slowly opening, but the pirates had started to wake up. Finally, after perhaps thirty seconds of small, insignificant movements, the captain was the first to rise to his feet, shakily at first, but straight and upright as he rose to his full height.
"Damn my soul," Singleton said, as he put his hat back on, "I just knew this was a dull affair. Put me right to sleep." he chuckled, which in his case was a rough, hacking sound. "Well, I'm up an' alert now. So. Where's the rum I ordered?"
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Post by Shark a' Pult on Oct 19, 2014 22:59:06 GMT -5
Only the harp stood resolute, undisturbed by the blast completely. No one was there to respond to Singleton at least.
All the while, Akki struggled the deck below. Harry's attack on her had done a number, but she had also been partially shredded by the harp. Gripping her side, blood seeped out of a nasty wound, though it wasn't so easy to tell with her black dress. Technically the fight was not over, but she was worried she wouldn't even be able to reach the harp now to continue. From what she heard, at least one of the pirates was awake, so she would need to find some way or time where they left the deck so she could reach it. For now, she crawled under the promenade, and tried to make for her room which was on this level at least. Once there she could figure out what to do and try to patch herself up.
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Post by Kyubey on Oct 26, 2014 19:13:33 GMT -5
"Wha?" Alcantra murmured as he, like his captain, rose to standing. "Somethin' happen?"
"Aye, dunno what," Bardsey replied. "Six fightin' sailors don't just fall asleep for no reason."
"Some trick from the enemy, then?"
"Seems that way."
"More n' that happened, I suspect," said the recently-awakened Selkirk, looking around and noting the damage that had been done to the ship.
"Mm. My guess is, whatever happened, didn't go as planned for whoever did this. Otherwise, we'd all be dead."
"You might be," said Bardsey, obviously unhappy with the implications.
"What I should like to know is," said Gow, acting as though he had been awake all along, "How did they, whoever they are, bring us all to sleep like this? They can't have drugged us, we didn't consume anything."
"Devil Fruits are my guess."
"And would Devil Fruits cause the rest of the damage?"
"They might, but I imagine the wreckage is from something else."
"And what might that be?"
"Do you expect me to know?"
"I'm sure at a loss," said Stevenson, sitting up. "After all, we don't even know how long we've been out."
"There's another question."
"Hang the questions," Bardsey said, still looking around him and not at his shipmates. "What I wanna know is, why're we the only ones out here. This is a fight, damn it all."
His words were interrupted by a sudden startled noise from Stevenson, who had just seen Harry's limp body on the far end of the ship.
"Harry!" he cried, rushing over to the boy. "What happened?"
"Did they knock him out, too?"
"Dunno. He's wounded, badly. I think he's been in a fight of some kind."
"Is he alright, Alexander?"
"Alive. Legs are out."
"So, this opponent of ours," Bardsey growled, "Would put us to sleep... and fight a damned boy." His rage could almost be tasted, and as he spoke, his voice rose steadily, to a point just below shouting. "Only cowards would do a thing like that. Who did this? I know you're there, so show yourself! Let me have my revenge!"
Besides Bardsey's feet, the chains writhed and thrashed, as accompaniment to his own anger. Even the other pirates began backing away from him, knowing how he tended to treat others when he was so enraged.
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Post by Shark a' Pult on Nov 2, 2014 16:18:26 GMT -5
What little Akki could hear of the pirates, she ignored almost completely. If Bardsey thought he could call her out to fight when she was already fairly injured and without her primary weapon, then he wasn't fit to be leading the crew. She could make out the rambling above, but simply half-stumbled half-crawled to her room. Her efforts to avoid being noticed were somewhat assisted by the fact that the ferry by now had made its way into one of the caves spanning the length of the island's underground, and was currently chugging along the subterranean river.
With a roof of stone above them, things were much darker now, though not pitch black. Visibility was assisted by the dim lights aboard the boat itself, and as well, an array of faint lights overhead. In truth the source was the various crystalline deposits running along the stony surface, and when caught by the lights of the ship, themselves illuminated in many splendid but faint colors. This reflection in turn was copied across the surface of the relatively calm waters of the underground current, and so to take it all in would give the impression that the ship was coasting through a starry night sky prickling with distant, colored lights dancing through the blackness.
---
Eventually Akki reached her room, it wasn't that far and carefully she tried to open and shut the door without making much sound. Once inside, she lit a lamp and tried to set about tending to her injuries. With the help of a dresser mirror it was an easier task, but she hoped she had the time to properly patch herself up. If the pirates came looking, they might notice the faint light underneath the door.
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Post by Kyubey on Nov 7, 2014 2:57:08 GMT -5
As the ship went into the darkness, Bardsey kept seething with anger, his chains continuing to squirm around him. Whatever his opponent may have been thinking, the captain could only see as an intentional denial of the battle he felt he deserved. The light show held no effect on him, nor did it to any of his shipmates, who were all too preoccupied with their own concerns to notice much.
"You are under no obligation to heed my advice," said Gow, "But perhaps our enemy is hiding from us on purpose?"
"If the one I'm meant to fight would run away so quick," Bardsey growled, his mood pouring outward onto those around him, "Then they shouldn't have been here at all. That's what I say, they aren't fit for pirate matters, you hear me?"
"I may not be one to know anything," Stevenson said, careful to not spur on his captain's frustration further, "But judging from the damage, maybe the one we were meant to battle was blown away with everything else?"
"So we won without doing a thing, is what you're suggesting?"
A low, unintelligible murmur from Bardsey conveyed his exact feelings on that possibility.
"Not possible," said Benjamin, who was only now opening his eyes and slowly beginning to sit up. Unlike the rest of the pirates, who were now at least standing, Benjamin remained seated, his relatively weak frame still recovering from the attack. "Remember the last fight? If we won this, we would know. Our enemy is hiding somewhere."
"Then we lost by default? Not to be too grim, but all sorts of things may have happened, and we could have slept past it all."
"No... we'd hear of that as well."
"Besides, that doesn't answer the question of what in blazes happened."
"Maybe all the wreckage is a distraction," Selkirk suggested. "You know. Keep us guessing, and while we're all standing around like this, pick us off from somewhere far away."
"Harry must have caught wise to that. That's why he's so beaten."
"Spineless cur," Alcantra spat.
"Also unlikely," Benjamin said coolly. "If our enemy was so indirect, we'd have been killed in our sleep."
"Well, that solves nothing at all, does it?"
"They're hiding away on the boat," Bardsey said, thinking out loud, "Strong enough to cause this scene, weak enough for Harry to be a challenge. And whoever it is, he's alive."
"When you put it that way, I'd rather like to see this mystery person."
"And you shall. We're lookin' for him, mates. Split up."
"Right now?"
"With no preparation?"
"Aye. Cover as much ground as ye can."
"Now that has to be a trap."
"No, it's a fair idea. Staying put is far more inadvisable than moving, even if they do have something planned for us."
"You dogs aren't scared, are you?"
"Not at all, Cap'n!" Alcantra confidently drew his blade. "Wherever they are, I shall cut them down for good!"
"So, just struggle through the traps, until we have our battle... all right."
"Enough talk, then," Bardsey said, his chains curling and arching back like snakes poised. "I shall go ahead. Mr. Gow, can you use your senses to track them down?"
"There's a lot of blood in the air, but I will try," Gow said, already shifting into his stag-type Zoan form. His physical size visibly grew, and large antlers sprouted from the top of his head, as thin brown fur appeared all over his body. Once he had reached his full hybrid form, he sniffed the air, and moved until he was out of sight.
"Benjamin, perhaps it would be best for you to stay here with Harry."
"That was my plan. I shall alert you if something happens."
"The rest of you, search until you find them, and shout out when you see anyone at all. Fight all you want, but the finishing blow is mine!"
With that, the pirates took off in their own directions, diligently scouting out the lower decks. They each moved with varying degrees of caution, some, like Gow and Stevenson, checking for danger before entering a new space, and careful not to turn their backs on any dark corner before they were empty, while others, such as Alcantra and Selkirk, barging from one room to the next, kicking down doors and flipping over tables, and moving on as soon as they didn't see anything. Bardsey took the most direct route of all, using his chains to tear right through the ship itself, using his weapons like tentacles to peel away at floors and walls, his energy building with every room he passed without finding the target he sought. He knew not what to expect when he did find someone, but whatever he found, he was itching to convey, with as much detail as possible, how disappointed he was by their cowardice.
As they searched, while they were all careful to leave no space unchecked, not all of them were too quiet, and, as they stomped and fumbled about in the dark, their confident, pirate-like tromping could be heard from anywhere on the ship. Bardsey's movements in particular were accompanied by constant noises of crashing wreckage, heralding his arrival. It was only a matter of time before one of them found Akki, but before they did, she had plenty of opportunity to run away, depending on how much room there was to flee on the ship.
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Post by Shark a' Pult on Nov 8, 2014 17:19:31 GMT -5
Would that she could run away she probably would have, but her room was quite close to the stairwell, and one of the doorkickers would have found her probably almost immediately.
She hadn't had much time for anything though, and they would have found her sitting before a dresser mirror in fairly modest undergarments, still patching herself up. Her injuries were clear to see though, as was her bloody dress hanging up on the wall. Given their method of entry, she was at least somewhat taken aback and jumped in place a little, and caught off guard as she was she froze like a deer in the headlights when she saw the intruder.
"Uh... excuse you?" she said, bandages in hand.
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Post by Kyubey on Nov 9, 2014 3:43:41 GMT -5
The door-kicker who happened to crash into Akki's room happened to be Alcantra, the black-clad swordsman of the pirate crew. Having been eager to show his worth ever since the last fight with Doc Super, he had been moving with a touch more haste than anyone else, and as such was first to reach the room. Noticing the light under the door, he smirked to himself before entering, and put an added flair to the kick that removed the door from his hinges. Ready for his enemy to be there waiting as he entered, he came in with his sword held aloft, poised to be plunged into whatever and whoever came at him. What he found, however, was not at all fitting to his expectations. For a moment, he was just as still as Akki was, and possibly just as horrified. Large, intimidating fighters and merciless warriors stirred no fear in the bold young pirate's heart. Helpless injured women were something else entirely to him.
"Dear God," he whispered, "What have they done?" With the information provided to him, he had mentally come to a conclusion that was quite far from the truth.
"Do pardon me miss," he said with embarrassment, tipping his hat and then pulling it over his face so as to not look at her while she was undressed, "I had not thought that there would be any civilians remaining on this ship. My deepest apologies. Please, take this." With his free hand, Alcantra sheathed his blade, and proceeded to remove his long, dark jacket, and tossed it in Akki's direction. Considering he was still averting his eyes, however, his aim was rather off.
"Allow me to introduce myself," he said with a bow, "I am Juan Alcantra, first mate of the Black Spot Pirates. My crew is currently in pursuit of a villain, which is proving rather more difficult than we expected. Could you help me get our revenge? Anything at all that you know would be more helpful than I can speak."
While he was a pirate, Alcantra, much unlike his shipmates, still considered himself a gentleman. It had never crossed his mind that the person before him was his enemy, or anything other than a victim.
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Post by Shark a' Pult on Nov 9, 2014 21:47:40 GMT -5
Akki watched as the jacket fell on the floor and blinked, before returning her attention to Alcantra. All the while though she continued to patch herself up.
"Well thanks anyway. It's nice to meet you, but you'd like my help? What do you know about this person you're after?"
Making the finishing touches and applying adhesive to keep the bandages in place, she proceeded to get dressed in more casual attire, before picking up the jacket and holding it out to the swordsman.
"Are you sure they're on the boat even?"
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Post by Kyubey on Nov 11, 2014 2:15:16 GMT -5
Alcantra kept his face obscured and maintained a fair amount of distance between himself and Akki. He still had not gotten over his discomfort at the situation, but he was relieved that she seemed to be so understanding. He imagined that not everyone would be so kind, after someone kicked down the door while they were dressing.
"I do not know much," he admitted, "only that this foe has not yet been kind enough to show himself to us. We were somehow put to sleep before our fight could begin. When we woke up, the ship was... well, you likely don't need me to tell you what state it's in now. What happened in between, we are still trying to piece together. Not an easy task. We are pirates, not great thinkers."
He tipped his hat to the side, allowing himself to see outward just a little, and saw that it was safe for him to look again. Placing the hat back on his head, he glanced and saw Akki handing the jacket to him. Bowing his head in wordless thanks, he took the jacket from her, and slung it over his shoulder.
"My Captain says to search the ship. There's no way of telling where they are, so if they are not here, we will figure something out from there. Once again, if you can merely point us in a direction, then we'd be that much closer. If it's not too much, would you mind if I were to ask how you got those injuries? I suspect whoever wounded you might just be my same enemy."
All the while, the sounds of the other Black Spots roughly trashing the ship in search of their foe resounded in the room. The crashing and tearing caused by Bardsey's chains was especially noticeable, and, just perhaps, seemed to be growing slightly louder.
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