This guy sure was full of quips. Rather than waste time speaking any longer, Zepp took point, leading the group consisting of Xerxes and three other guards. Everything had been going fairly smoothly for the majority of the trek. However, upon the procession passing by the cells which held Jackal and a prisoner unbeknownst to the Captain, it didn’t take too long for things to go remarkably wrong. Perhaps it was due to not expecting someone to break Xerxes out, but Zepp was unable to react when someone managed to break the seastone bindings keeping the prisoner in check. He turned on his heel swiftly, managing to catch a glimpse of the figure before she dematerialized, only to be followed by the sounds of another door being torn out of a wall. “You three keep the other prisoners from escaping. I’ll take care of this guy.” he ordered the other guards, cursing under his breath as the explosive man released a stream of flame from his hands and began to careen across the hall. Even the criminal’s movements provided an irritating level of destruction, a fact that made it all the more pertinent to slap him back in some cuffs as soon as possible. “Looks like I might need to take this a little more seriously.” he muttered, beginning his pursuit.
It wasn’t long before Zepp caught Xerxes leaping back out of a sizeable hole he created in the prison wall. With a sigh, the Captain of the 99th leapt out after him, apparently unphased by the height from which he’d be descending from. As soon as he spotted his target who was also in freefall, Zepp drew a flintlock pistol and used his other hand to hold his hat onto his head. Deciding to conserve bullets in light of the target’s known level of ability, Zepp fired only two shots, one towards the arm that had long since recovered from being broken by Lt. Kahurangi a month ago, and the other at the target’s right leg. If he had time to react, then Zepp expected him to use his ability to redirect his descent rather than simply eat bullets. Then again, there wasn’t anything preventing him from simply attempting a counterattack. Surely the pyro-electrical emissions the man created were more than capable of destroying some bullets and still having enough energy to try and blast through the freefalling Captain. How troublesome. While he wasn’t entirely okay with how much John had elected to use Rokushiki techniques in apprehending the man a month ago, “Zepp” had to admit that the versatility and firepower of Xerxes’ devil fruit ability made it a little dicey not to take advantage of their own set of abilities.
It had been quite a productive month since the crew left Loguetown, and the Argo, christened as such shortly after they so graciously received it from the Marines, served as a fine vessel for them to carry out their pirate business. In the wake of their demolishing of the Marine base on Kumalado Island, and Samehana’s nearly single-handed destruction of any Marine ships that attempted to pursue them (most of them before they could even successfully leave the port), their number grew by one more. It hadn’t even been that long since Spirillum joined their crew before Freyja, a former Captain in the Marines, had joined their ranks. While Spiril had proven to be a welcome addition to the crew in his short time on board, Samehana was glad that the crew could get another skilled combatant in their ranks. The more people to spar with, the better! Though, frankly, the woman was a little bit of a Debbie Downer, so to speak.
Most importantly, the Captain called upon Samehana and Church to engage in a most important task: To teach the golden-haired young man the secrets of Haki. Perhaps the idea of entering the Grand Line sparked some newfound motivation within him, but it was about time. Frankly, it was a little surprising that he hadn’t bothered to ask earlier. While Church was tasked with honing Sancho’s ability to use Kenbunshoku Haki, Samehana took care of instilling at least the basics of Busoshoku Haki into the young Captain. He was, in some ways, a quick study. But he hadn’t really taken his training too seriously yet. Though, that could possibly be chalked up to the importance of these abilities not being instilled into him firsthand. Sure, Samehana and Church would rough him up a bit as part of the training to hone his Haki, but it wasn’t as if it had any real consequences yet. Perhaps one day he would receive new motivation in the form of a rival or some other obstacle.
Once the Argo docked at the harbor of Elfen Island, the crew themselves made landfall. Frankly, after all of the seafood she’d been cooking while they were at sea, Samehana was in the mood for something a little different to eat. Of course, as the crew’s cook, her level of proficiency in cooking was high. But she could only really work with dishes that included some manner of fish or some other sea creature, collected fresh from the ocean by herself. Maybe she was a being a bit too prideful, but she had yet to try and learn how to make other things. Maybe one day she too would receive a spark of inspiration, broadening her range of dishes. As she walked through the town she, much like Sancho, spotted a wanted poster. This one, however, was for the Black Shark herself. She snatched the poster down and gave it a good look, chuckling at how much attention the artist had given to rendering her chest. The sight of it must have been the only thing many of the Marines paid enough attention to before they were knocked unconscious by Samehana and company. Balling it up, she tossed the parchment into a refuse bin after catching sight of the nine million beli bounty that had been placed on her. For having happened over the course of a month, it wasn’t too shabby. Though, she was almost sad to lose her clean record.
Feeling that someone or, rather, a few people seemed to be trying to tail her, Samehana simply smirked as she attempted to find a local eatery.
”Excuse me, ma’am. You wouldn’t happen to be able to point me in the direction of any popular food spots, would you?” Samehana inquired as she came upon a woman passing by. For a moment, it was clear in the womans dull green eyes that she was a bit startled by the Fishwoman, a reaction that Samehana had gotten used to. She was more than aware of her striking appearance, and even more aware of the fact that there were more than a few Fishfolk that weren’t exactly the most civil when interacting with humans. Samehana just smiled, dispelling the initial fear that the woman displayed and receiving a timid smile in return. “W-well, the Valiant Angler is a pretty popular spot. It’s all the way on the West side of town. Can’t miss it, on account of the sign being mighty large.” the woman informed her, stumbling over her words at first. The Fishwoman nodded and flashed the woman an “OK” sign.
”Thanks for the tip~. You have a good day now.” she chimed, smirking as she looked over her shoulder and caught a figure peering at her from out of an alleyway. He wasn’t wearing Marine garb, so it might have been safe to assume that whoever the people attempting to tail her were pirate hunters of some sort. If it weren’t for the clear malintent rising off of them, she might have assumed they were new adoring fans. As she began her casual jaunt in the rough direction of the Valiant Angler, she pulled out a Den Den Mushi with a black shell with a red swirl, the body of the creature itself being a lavender color. To top it off, it’s “teeth” were sharp much like Samehana’s.
“If any of you guys need me, I’ll be over at the Valiant Angler on the west-side. Of course, I wouldn’t mind if any of you would join me.” she purred, figuring that most of the crew would be able to tell they were being tailed without her telling them. Whoever these pursuers were, they weren’t exactly super stealthy.
