After what seemed like days in the storm, it had finally passed, though Griff and Sammy laid on the main deck staring at the stary sky, they were completely lost, tired and exhausted, Griff more than Sammy, Griff thought he would die of dehydration due to all the seawater he swallowed. Sammy sat up and screamed “I’m booooored, I’m going to explore the ship”. Griff just closed his eyes and tried to relax, it had been an exhausting day, being chased by marines, a storm, almost capsizing, too much for one day.
Inside the ship, Sammy began to explore, not lonmg after he started he sumbled into a dark room, he couldn’t see much in the dark, he felt around and found one of Griff’s toy soldiers, he remembered how to light it so he did just that.
*KABOOOOM*
Griff jumped up from the shock, “marines, did they find us?” he thought but the ocean was as clear as a dessert (or so it seemed in the dark), he noticed a faint smell of smoke in the air, then from a side of the ship, some wood floating, He leaned to see a hole in the side of the ship, right were his workshop was. Griff hooked himself to the ships side and swinged into the hole, Sammy better not have destroyed the gunpowder flowers. Inside he saw a hole on the other side of the wall were Sammy stepped out mad at Griff “HEY, I lighted one of your soldiers and it exploded on me!” Griff relieved it wasn’t the flowers just laughed at Sammy “jia jia jia jia, you tried to light one of my gas bombs, serves you right!” Sammy hit Griff in the back of the head “Don’t laugh at your captain now fix the ship, this was your fault” “My Fault? You came into the workshop and used my stuff without permission!”
They went back and forth like this until they fell asleep from exhaustion, the boat free to be carried by the sea
The next morning Griff awoke feeling refreshed and renewed, he got up and remembered, nobody was manning the ship! He ran outside to the main deck to see what was about. Sammy woke up as Griff ran out the hole in the wall. To Griff’s surprise they were ashore, nobody around at first glance, he jumped down and began to anchor down the boat properly, It was another miracle, or maybe all his luck running out really quick, but they seemed to be in the island they were aiming for, Griff re boarded the ship and began to set up traps in the boat, to stop any robbers or looters while Sammy got his hat and jumped to the shore below looking around. he took out his suitcase, bow and some gadgets and joined Sammy. “If this is the island on the map, then this is where we’ll find the gunsmith.”
“We need a gunsmith so If he’s interesting I’ll make him join my crew”
“Don’t cause a racket ok, this guy is not famous for his good mood”

Being an expert navigator was a high note on Natsu's life. She was just so glad for her teacher and had arrived at the island perhaps a few hours or so give or take after the storm died out using the remains of the sharp wind to get her there taking her melting ice water and some nonperishable foods she had packed as well as some raw meet and began to explore the island mapping it out in her head as she went from one side to the other making sure to make as little noise as possible. It was dark, she had only the stars to guide her and an unfamiliarity with the place which were all bad news. She set up a little camp for the night knowing she wasn't going to get much sleep.

In fact, she didn't. She kept waking herself up every other hour or so to do a check on if she had any unwelcome company around trusting her sixth sense that had kept her alive just barely in that forest. She then stretched out once the sun hit her face deciding to call it a morning cracking her back stretching out the kinks. She froze in her stretching tilting her head a bit to the left having heard something much like walking footsteps. She waited and pulled her sword out from its sheath it's point resting against a throat. "Don't you know its rude to sneak up on a woman who is armed? She might get testy and start attacking...especially if she just woke up from a poor nights sleep. So tell me....why I should allow your blood to stay inside your body." She said glaring at the idiot who thought it had been a good idea to try and sneak up on her. It was a man of some stature, sort of lanky maybe tall-ish, with bony hands. But she could recognize another fighter. Despite his mousy looks, she was willing to bet a panther lay in those miniscule muscles of his.

It was the start of another GORGEOUS day in paradise... and Weasel frankly, hated it. Having been born on an island drenched in perpetual rain, the sunlight just never sat well with him. Sighing heavily, he began his standard morning walkabout the island, to clear his mind for the upcoming day. As he was walking through the woods, he noticed something. A smell. A smell he hadn't smelled before. Following it to it's source, Weasel was kinda surprised to see a woman laying there. 'Oh, my... a customer maybe? But what's she doing sleeping in the forest?' he thought to himself, emerging from the shadows, only to have a blade pointed at his neck.

"Don't you know its rude to sneak up on a woman who is armed? She might get testy and start attacking...especially if she just woke up from a poor nights sleep. So tell me....why I should allow your blood to stay inside your body."

"Fufufufu... forgive me, my lady. You are correct. It is rude to sneak upon an unsuspecting maiden. Please, let us not resort to violence. My name is Weasel" he said, pushing the sword out of the way with a bony finger and giving a steep bow. "I work as the personal assistant and head manager for Master Dani of the Bloody Evolution, just over the hill there. Might I ask... why are you here, Ms....?"

Natsu studied the man named Weasel and put the sword back in it's sheath knowing to be watchful here. It might seem nice but it was best to be on her guard. "Ms. Natsu Hizuri, lieutenant of the Marines, Lougetown. I am here to capture two wanna be pirates for its my duty as they got away in the first place." She made a bit of a face at this as if to say: 'but really its not like they have a bounty or anything'. "One of them will be needing a new riffle and this is the best place to get one according to rumor." She said taking a comb from her jacket pocket and pulling it gently through her yellow locks of hair out of habit that had bloomed from her days being 'cared' for by her aunt. She felt all kinds of weird if she didn't take care of at least the knots first. Everything else was secondary. "Do you happen to know where I can find the gunsmith?" She asked never once taking her purple gaze off him.

Griff and Sammy began wandering through the island, after a few minutes they reached a big structure that screamed off limits and danger. Griff instinctively masked his presence and layed down to survey the area, looking for potential danger, escape routes but at the same time Sammy grabbed his hat, with excitement he screamed while approaching the door “HELLO, WE’RE LOOKING FOR A GUNSMITH, ANYONE HOME!?”. Griff’s concentration faded instantly, replaced by utter amazement at how upfront Sammy was, Griff immediately rushed towards Sammy and shushed him “Are you crazy! we don’t even know what’s in here, you just gave away our position!”
“We’re in the Solar kingdom and we’re elcome”
“What? how do you even know that”
“It’s right there on the door, OH are we gonna meet kings then!?” Sammy pointed at the large iron doors.
Griff turned his attention to the doors and sure enough, that’s exactly where they were, from the rumors he had heard, it seemed like the right place. “Ok Sammy, when and if they let us in, we have to be careful not to aggravate the boss and “
Sammy had began knocking on the door without even taking notice of Griff’s advice “HELLO, OPEN UP”
“Again! listen to me you idiot!!”

Weasel bowed again "Allow me to make our meeting official. Greetings, Ms. Natsu Hizuri, lieutenant of the Lougetown Marines" he said with a toothy grin. Placing his hand on his chin, he began stroking as he thought about the most recent visitors. "Pirates, eh? Hmmm... Can't say that I've seen any around here recently. In fact our last client was a Marine Officer. But that was about a week ago". Looking her over as he considered her request, he decided there was no harm in allowing her inside B.E. "Yes... I suppose I do. If you'll follow me. We're stationed just over the hill" Weasel said, walking away towards the direction he indicated, looking back every so often to make sure Lt. Hizuri was not being left behind.

It wasn't long until the fort had come into view. As per usual, it was bustling with activity, with Master Dani's tower looming over it all. To outsiders it was a threatening spire of power, but to those occupying the miniature city it was a beacon of hope and pride. "Come. Please. I'll take you in the rear." Weasel said, gesturing for Lt. Hizuri to follow. In five minutes they were at the door, Weasel knocking at the door in an erratic manner. With a click it popped open, Weasel bowing the lieutenant in. "Lucky for you, Master Dani is in a good mood this morning. Might even be willing to meet with you. Just... uh... watch your tongue. Master Dani doesn't take too well to rudeness"...

---

Sammy pounded on the door once more "COME ON!!! OPEN UP, MR. KING GUY! I WANNA TALK-" but he was cut short when a hatch only big enough for eyes opened up in the door. "Yeah, yeah, yeah, boy. We hear you. What the hell do you want?!". Sammy wasted no time, walking right up to the hatch "Hey! What's up? Were looking for whoever runs this place. I hear he's a master gunsmith and I want him to join my crew!" Suddenly bellowing laughter came from the other side "WAAAAHAHOHOHOHOHOHOHO!!!! Oh, kid you have noooo idea who you're dealing with, do you?! You want our Master to serve YOU!? And just who are YOU!?" Determined, Sammy glared right at the eyes "I'm the next King of the Pirates!" There was a heavy pause before there was more laughter from behind the door " WAAAHOHOHO!!!! You know what, Kid? I like you. This I gotta see. Brick! Help me open the door"

With an enormous creak, the heavy wooden doors cracked open, allowing Sammy and Griff passage into the nuthouse. Turning to Griff, Sammy grinned one of his massive smiles "See, Griff. Told you we were welcome." He said, before strolling in...

"Natsu. Call me that. I don't like being called 'lieutenant'." Natsu says for she enjoyed having others underestimate her. She followed Weasle never once letting up on her gait, looking around a mental image of the island being laid out in her head as they walked. "They more than likely arrived to this island after I did, as there was a storm and they don't have an experienced navigator as of yet." She theorized looking at the tower, not feeling at all intimidated by it. She's seen more imposing buildings in her life training as a marine. And she has met too many violent animals in the wild to be easily intimidated looking unconcerned. The only nagging thing was that something big was going to happen. And soon. She trusted this gut feeling as it never lead her wrong. "I'll be civil as long as I receive the same curtesy." She vaguely promised about not being rude. But she was a person who didn't just give her respect to just anyone. Not even her father had her full respect. The only ones to get it had been the last King of the Pirates and her teacher of the sea and weather.

Griff wasn’t used to Sammy’s upfront behaviour, this was ridiculous, no escape plan, no reconosense, no lies or anything, they weren’t even taking them seriously, Griff followed along scoping the place out, there were people feasting, laughing and drinking all around, but also working, like a blacksmith paradise, the structure of the place seemed like it was built with care and delicacy for one’s work, and also, to put it as how Griff felt it “wild”. In the middle of this spectacle of chaos and creation, he saw it, the most perfect rifle if he ever saw one, Griff had an eye for these things, the craftsmanship, the details, he just had to go see it. Griff spaced out and lifted the rifle, the weight was perfect, the cartridge easy to handle, he might have to mod it a bit for personal preference but this was as good as it got in “normal” rifle specifications he began to inspect it almost expertly, Griff was almost shining in excitement, and this was just a rifle, what other kinds of beauties would lie hidden in this place. Griff then snapped out of it and finally looked back to the group and said “I’m taking this rifle”

“So COOL!” Sammy shouted as he ran about the town, seeing all the incredible weapons and contraptions being made.
“Does this one shoot lasers!?!” he asked one of the craftsmen currently polishing a large bazooka.
“Sorry kid, but dis beauty only shoots rockets.”
“Do you have anything that does shoot lasers?”
“i don’t, but da boss might.”
“Boss?”
“yeah, ya see dat buildin’ dere,” the man pointed to a large tower in the back of the town. “Dat’s where da boss lives. you go dere and ask, you might get what you’re lookin for.”
“Sweet! Thanks bazooka guy!” Sammy ran off towards the tower, completely forgetting about Griff in the process.

when Griff catched up to the group, he looked for Sammy, but he was nowhere to be seen, Griff asked the man leading the group where he went, he explained he saw something interesting and like a curious dog, he chased after it, the man was still laughing at the scene. Griff’s face went blank as he imagined what could go wrong, all the money they would lose and the mess Sammy could make, so he too rushed off to look for him, briefcase and rifle in hand. He began looking for him in the kitchen, it wouldn’t be surprising that he saw meat and ran off, after asking a random person where the kitchen was he was directed towards the back of the fort, strange Griff thought, how could he have gotten all the way back there? the thought escaped him as he ran to the back.

Random guy 1: “Nice one pulling that kids leg, sending him off to get himself lost”
Random guy 2: “SHISHI I know right, serves him right for coming to a gun store to find food”

As Griff reached the back, in a corner he bumped straight into someone, knocking them both to the ground. “Oh, I’m sorry” he said as he quickly grabbing his suitcase “I should have been more aware of my… eeeeeeehh!!!” Griff smirked nervously as he looked up to see the blond marine officer from before “Yup, my luck has dried out” he thought, quickly leaping back searching for any items to use, but as luck would have it, all he had was his suitcase, the crash dropped his bag of gadgets on the floor next to Natsu, fighting wasn’t out of the question and his monster of a captain wasn’t around to help, just one option available. Griff readied a fighting stance, looked the officer in the eyes with great determination and said with a serious tone “please forget I was here”. Griph activated his wind dials in reverse direction and skated backwards away from her “bye bye” he waved with a nervous crooked smile.

Natsu was once more sent to the ground as someone ran into her and as the said person apologized she looked and she saw Griff, quickly regaining her balance echoing the fighting stance he had. "I can't." She replied just as seriously and when he shot backwards using a wind dial and his skates she automatically grabbed the stuff next to her and took off running after the criminal.

She may be fast, but he had an advantage. She looked at the structure of the building, his projection rate, and a solution came to mind. The air around her got surreptitiously colder, and she grabbed her sword and sliced the air twice cutting off a beam of wood, causing it to fall in front of Griff, a hint of frost on the wall.

Weasel just watched as his charge took off after the boy who had collided into her, shaking his head as Natsu sliced down a wall to cut off her prey. "Oh, deary, dear. The Boss is not going to like this" he said to himself, before scampering after the two. 'Best to keep an eye on them. No need to alert the Boss if it's unnecessary' he thought, making sure to keep his distance, hiding in the shadows.

"Hm?" Sammy stopped in his tracks, a bag of food in one hand, and a piece of meat in his mouth. he tore off a chunk and started chewing, "Wha wash dat?" he wonder, staring in the direction he heard the loud crash. He shrugged, choosing to ignore it and continue heading towards the tower.

-

BAM, a wooden beam fell in front of Griff, instinctively Griff jumped, but it was a little too late, he tripped on the top of the beam and face planted to the ground, people around began to laugh and mock him “STOP LAUGHING YOU BASTARDS, it was because of these suitcases that I fell, it threw me off my game” It was obvious Griff was lying, though normally he had more agility, Natsu was the first calculative opponent he had ever encountered “Why are you so keen on catching us Ms Marine “he shouted back trying to get some info out of her, though it was strange, was she alone or were marines outside at the wait. He got back up and continued skating away, this time using more advanced evasive actions, keeping multiple options to advance taking into account her ice beam slice attacks,