Flint would stylishly reload his shotgun as the man asked him about Handel. "Handle? Why I hardly know her!" He'd exclaim to Shakar with a shit eating grin. Oh God, that was such a shit joke and he knew it and even more, reveled in how bad and forced it was. He'd draw his sword as he gave Shakar a calm and collected look. It felt oddly thrilling fighting what he could loosely call an ex-comrade. After all, he was once one of them.

"The only person I'm keeping track of her is the girl. So I can't let go after her." He said dodging the swarm of crows. He'd listen Shakar complain about his captain. He'd reply with, "I guess you could call it.. a CAWW-founding attack. But what would life be without a Captain's whimsy to keep things interesting?" Flint looked at the familiar gleam of the seastone on his sword. He found himself coveting it. Flint would launch a combination attack of a stroke with his large sword followed by firing off one barrel from his gun.

_@Noodles

The Lower decks

Alesia held on the Dragon’s head. The full blast of the dragon swarmed the decks of the Marine ship, along the ship corridors without any interference from the outside. The corner of the ship hull burst into flames, the flames of the dragonfire spreading to the right half of the ship deck.

The upper decks @jerkchicken

Flames erupted the side hull. Smokes billowed the railings of the Marine ship. Those Marine soldiers started moving away from the burning half of the ship deck. Shakar remained unfazed at the scene of his own ship. “Interesting, so that girl is your captain?”

With his eye contact still focused on Flint, Shakar strikes the side of the oncoming blade. Both tips of the swords slammed the ground in each of their full force. The deck floor that crossed the two blades Cracked. The crack of the ship floor creeped towards the side of the ship deck, then a booming sound from the railings. A technique of some sort from Shakar.

The bullets that Flint fired struck with a loud thud, falling off the side of the seastone crossguard. And as how it was said, nothing can break seastone. Not even a dent or chipping on that hilt of Shakar’s Sword.

Shakar twisted his crossguard, and a few more pellets struck away the side of the hilt. He took a step back to evade the remaining onslaught of pellets, breaking off the first exchange of attacks.

The Lower deck @BladeSS4 @Others

A few cracks formed on the lower decks, before it punctured into a large hole with a loud boom. Seawater gushed in from the oversized hole of the ship hull. And that seemed to be deliberate, as mist and steam formed from the contact of Seawater and Dragonfire, greatly limiting the spread of the Fires, as the sheer mass of Seawater starts to engulf the bottom deck.

But even so, a waterlogged ship wouldn’t outrun the White Pearl. They had accomplished what they needed to do, the ship is ready to sail now.

As the waters start seeping into their side of the bottom decks, Alesia flashed out her cutlass that gleamed orange from the fires of the ship hull. She blasted a hole through the ceiling from the use of her Thrusting Winds technique.

“Hop on! We’re retreating!” Alesia ordered from the Lower decks. The gush of waters started to close in towards both.

"And so it's my duty to keep her from swinging at the gallows due to your peculiar 'Justice'." He said in between blows as he said with the intonation of your average marine.

While Flint would have liked for part of his blast to hit the man, he wasn't terribly surprised about Shakar's defense. He was a good swordsman. And if he had Devilfruit powers that sword would be an even bigger annoyance. For now, all it did was make sure the pellets that hit its area would just fall down. Flint found himself wanting to take that sword and make of the seastone for himself even more. Bakuto would show up in his pure dragon form telling him to get off as he wanted to torch the ship while keeping Shakar busy. He'd reply, "Shouldn't I be the one to tell you that? You're the one at the disadvantage."

As he spoke he'd maintain his distance from Shakar and focus on defense. He had only one shot left in his shotgun and that was more for suppression at this point. Since Shakar would definitely not want to get hit by that at such a close range. Flint would try and fake him out and do a swing that transitioned into a defensive stance. He'd toss his gun up,quickly throw a grenade near Shakar rather than him, and catch his gun again. He was hoping the splinters would inconvenience Shakar. "Way I see it, he can parry those flames and swat you into the water. You fall into the sea and it'll be a challenge to dragon your ass back to the ship. Me? I fall into the sea and at least I can swim." He said as she slurred dragon into sounding like dragging.

"But if I gotta go, at least help me out with getting a souvenir. That sword." He said. Getting it Shakar's sword would be good on several counts. The most obvious would be that they'd be inconveniencing him by leaving him bereft of his fancy sword. Secondly, it had its use as no doubt there would be tricky fights with other Devilfruit users for whom using this sword against would tilt the fight into their favor. As he for Bakuto's response, he'd continue to keep Shakar busy on him and not on Bakuto. He'd holster his gun and grip the sword with both hands as he put some more effort into those blows.

“Of people who call themselves as justice, and yet their acts suggest otherwise.” Shakar was amused to hear that word of justice from the Pirate, Flint. Mist seeped from the holes to the lower deck.

“Fending off dragonfire? That is true, I was just planning to do so,” The corner of his eye caught sight of a forthcoming grenade.

The Dragonfire rained down and brightened the evening sky, almost engulfing the entire Marine sloop.

Shakar threw his marine coat to one side. His rough forearms showed signs of countless scars, the older ones blending along his tanned skin. “Dragon’s Descent, Thirteenth Slash.” The blade of that old man sprang upwards in a rattling arc. Ripples of air erupted from the tip of Shakar’s blade. The slicing gales and winds looks more like a gulliotine to Alesia. The flames, mercilessly swept away from that slash from the Lietuenant Shakar, soaring towards the Dragon.

Thrusting Winds. Alesia sent forward a blast of wind off her blade, to fend off against the slash from that old man.

The thrusting winds, combined with the Dragonfire, clashed against one another. Smog and Gales erupted in ripples by ripples above the Marine Ship. Even then it seemed that Shakar had the upper hand.

Alesia noticed the grenade thrown by the first mate of the crew. That Flint is good at using explosions. She hurled all force towards that grenade.

The blast of the grenade merged along the Dragonfire and the thrusting winds, as if woven together like an embroidery. The winds stopped, as the combined attack of the three clashed along with the Thirteenth Slash. Smoke gushed out from the point where the four attacks met. The smoke and the mist from the marine ship, started to cover the upper decks, the last trickle of sunset waning from the horizons.

That Slicing Guillotine is fended off. She was actually expecting the attack to work better than ‘just fending off his blade’. The battle has concluded regardless, as she could barely discern the image of that old marine. But she wasn’t going to let her guard down.

The Marine Ship deck

“So, you want this blade?” Shakar sheathed his blade from a safe distance of Flint. “You can have it!”

It wasn’t any drawing of the blade, Shakar flung his blade off the scabbard. The seastone blade soared, with its hilt pointed towards the Dragon Bakuto.

Drawing out his scabbard off his waist, Shakar parries away the slashes from Flint, the edges shaving away into its plywood.

The hilt of the seas stone blade soared towards them. One touch and….. Clearing off her stray thoughts, Alesia leapt off the Dragon’s head without any hesitation. That blade must be stopped at all costs. Dust cleared away from the hilt of the flying blade. Even at her full weight, she could feel the winds soaring around the blade mercilessly. She thrusted her cutlass forward. The snake’s bite meets the hilt of the seastone blade. As long as I don’t touch that thing…

Her cutlass bulged. This is ten tonnes……. Alesia reached forward, grasping the handle with her free hand. The feeling of drowning and seasickness surged upon her once again. She held on the seastone hilt despite, grabbing onto the seastone hilted sword tightly in gasping breaths. Alesia succumbed to the seastone, letting the blade loose as she blackened after drowning in mid-air. The heavier seastone hilted blade tumbled down along the masts and riggings, before the blade struck upon the deck floor of the White Pearl ship.

Alesia, was also on a free-falling path towards the deck of the White Pearl, and from the looks of it, she had barely regained her consciousness, let alone the use of her weight shifting powers.

“The Sword of the Starry Night wasn’t mine to begin with.” Smoke and mist clouded the pirate and the Marine Lieutenant, breaking away the second exchanges of attack. “It’s been a while since I find myself using a rifle.”

The choice is of Flints’, to challenge Shakar of his rifle, or to return to the ship..

Flint could not a whole lot but watch as the attacks from Bakuto and Alesia combined with his grenade to counter the slices from Shakar's sword that threatened to cancel the Devilfruit users' attacks. Somehow everything was enough to overpower the sea stone empowered slashes. Nothing but smoke and mist covered the area on and around the boat. Flint could barely see when that hit him. He was pretty glad though that Bakuto and Alesia didn't get hit by it. They'd be goners if they both fell into the ocean.

“So, you want this blade? You can have it!” Shakar said to him. Flint was unable to catch the sword as Shakar threw it at the two. Alesia managed to deflect the blade away, but not before succumbing to the effects of the seastone. The blade lodged itself into the deck but she was now falling. Then again it's not like he'd hand it over in a manner that wasn't antagonistic. Flint now had to worry about the two and such had nothing else but to end this encounter.

"Mighty kind of you to lend The Sword of the Starry Night. Let's just say the sword has some sentimental value." Despite the soft-spoken delivery, it didn't mask his feelings towards Shakar.He grabbed the scabbard and got off the burning ship. In that moment Bakuto had reverted back and was trying to catch her. Flint leaped to sword and got it out of the way before it cause more trouble for them in the nick of time.

"Sorry! I was thinking we'd be able to 'persuade' him to give up the sword a lot more nicely." He said as he catched Bakuto in a bridal carry type grab, who had also managed to grab Alesia. It was like a nesting doll with the recursion going on. The weight, it was also unbearable. He could feel things straining he never felt strain before as he struggled to hold both a large grown adult and a teen girl. He could do one or the other, but two? Not so much. Luckily for everyone involved, he was able to let them down pretty quickly and with much issue. Flint went and sheathed The Sword of the Starry Night that he had just moved away.

Ugh… Alesia thought, as she felt herself being carried by someone. On the previous instant, she was falling, that was what she remembered. Quickly shifting to her flighty weight, catching those two from the skies seemed to be the weight of one person. “Thanks,” Alesia got herself up at the ship decks. Grasping on the steering wheel, the White Pearl disengaged itself from the White Pearl, amidst the swirling smoke and the night.

---

The White Pearl
“No signs of them……” The full moon was high up in the skies. Normally, she would be in the Captain Quarters by then. But not after this encounter with that old swordsman. The draping night reminded her of that Valar from the Brown Isles. To think that those Marines have those drowning stones, and she swore to herself not to touch those things again. It only works on people who ate Devil Fruit, from the looks of it.

After Loguetown, the Grand Line would be up ahead. Alesia watched the starry horizons. Tomorrow, they will reach Loguetown. “Go sleep, Scruffy,” Alesia patted Arafael’s fur, before dozing off at the railings.

---

The Harbour of Loguetown
The morning sun shone the Harbour of Loguetown brightly. Sight of seagulls flew in flocks along the coasts. Those without bombs, fortunately. Vendors and stalls of Loguetown lined up the main streets, leading towards the town centre was the execution platform of the Pirate King, Gold Roger.

After the anchor is dropped, Alesia grabbed a treasure chest, the treasure chest that the crew seized from the Shade Pirates back at the Brown Isles. “Before we are to head into the Grand Line, we shall be splitting the plunder. And on the funds---“ The pet wolf Arafael ran down the gangplank. “Wait, Scruffy!” Alesia, still holding the treasure box by her side, chased after that white wolf.

Arafael made his way towards the main streets, to blend itself amongst the crowd. He was not going to stay with them any longer, not especially when they've gotten their hands on seastones.

---

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Loguetown Back Alley @BladeSS4
Amongst the posters that Bakuto torn away, was one that have the same bounty as the marine captain Bakuto. One that wore a familiar grey cloak, the Captain of the scarlet Pirates was on the freshly printed poster. Alesia ‘the Gale’, a bounty of 27 million. A blurry image from the surrounding smoke and mists, but of a recognizable print.

---

Streets of Loguetown
“Damnit!” Alesia let out a long line of cursings upon losing her pet wolf, ‘Scuffy’ amidst the crowd. She was going to consult with that Flint on why he didn’t buy a leash on that ship pet. And as of what Bakuto said earlier, she had one more thing to worry aside from the Marines. Nets of Sea Prism Stones She’d be rather fed to the sharks than to meet such a fate. She had doubts that the old man would reach this port so quickly, that ship is well damaged enough to delay them for a day or two. Also, she wasn’t a pirate like Valar, she wouldn’t attract too much attention to the Marines. So long as they don’t send those seagulls at us….

Bar of the Bulls’ Mast @Jerkchicken@KiltmanBagz@Genon
The Bar of the bulls’ Mast is mostly deserted in the middle of the morning. With only a bard playing music of melancholy, and a group of people playing around a deck of cards. One such table was of a Shady, Yellow haired man, with a scar that reaches from the forehead down to the eyebrows. He looked young, appearing around his 20s. The sign on the table is written with ‘The Great Fortune Telling! ONLY 10,000 Berys’. His brown eyes glinted at the potential new customers, shuffling a deck of cards before placing it beside the placard.

That’s no wonder his table is empty, Alesia settled the bulky treasure box in the middle of the Mahogany table. “I’ll be reserving this table, bring me your best ale & food.”

Alesia dug the treasure box and handled a gold coin to the bartender. The gruff bartender, his face creaked out what she could barely describe as a smile under his thick mustache. “You truly have our best interests in our hearts, worry not, I won’t blutter out a word on your arrival, Captain Alesia.”

How did he know my name? Alesia snorted, as the mug of the best ale of the morning gets served to her.

Lougetown was always a town buzzing with pirate rumors. Who was nearby, who was coming up, who was coming passing through? Every ambition pirate with grand line aspirations in the east blue would pass through here sooner or later. It made it the perfect place for Hertha to set up shop for the past few years. If you keep your ear to the ground you could net a good bounty if bounties were getting hard to find then there were always plenty of scared merchant ships that felt better with some mercenary muscle on board. Always plenty of coins to be made, which was good because renting a space that fit her and buying enough food to feed her was not something one could do on a low budget. But neither of those was the main reasons she had decided to spend most of her time in this town. Hertha didn't want to spend her life as a mercenary, hopping from ship to ship and bounty to the bounty. She wanted to follow in her father's footsteps, to take the Redrivers name back to the sea and make is strike fear and wonder once more. She wanted to be a pirate, one who would be considered one of the best. For that, she needed a captain who was equally ambitious, one who wished to go to the grand line was the minimum requirement.

Alas...she was a picky lass and she hadn't found anyone that really spoke to her yet. She needed a crew with valor, with honor, with courage. And listing to the rumors and reading today's paper. A crew that jacked one pirate's treasure and took swings at the marines? That sounded like the sort of crew she might want to take a look at. "Hopefully they don't pass through town with me missing them..." she murmured to herself, looking out over the crowd of early morning people.

Only...wait...She squinted down at the wanted poster pinched between her fingers and a figure moving among the people, cursing up a storm about something. It was hard to say for sure as they printed these wanted posters so small compared to her and the picture was hazy, to begin with...but something in her gut told her that woman was was Alesia of the Scarlet Pirates.

Hertha watched as she and a few others went into a tavern. "What are the odds..." she wondered aloud to herself "Or...perhaps fate is finally smiling on me." Lifted herself up from her sitting place in a wide ally that overlooked the area, where her size would not inconvenience people so much nor them her, and began carefully make he way through the crowd. They had gotten used to her hanging around these past few years so they didn't scatter as much as they used to, so moving in a way that didn't end up hurting people could be tricky.

The 12 foot woman stared down at the entrance to the tavern and sighed "This place better not have to low of a ceiling..." She unshouldered her massive round shield and blade, It would be hard enough to move around indoors without them on her body. She slides the sword, sheath and all, into the arm straps of the shield and rested it against the wall. The combined weight should be enough to deter most halogens who would be interested in stealing it.

She got down on her hands and knees and like an adult trying to squeeze their way into a child's hiding place carefully pulled herself inside. She glanced up and grumbled, She'd have to take her helm off as well... But she should be able to sit mostly upright once she did. She crawled carefully towards the table, brushing aside chares and the like. thank god it isn't happy hour... She thought.

She stopped in front of the table, rather sure she had made something of a spectacle of herself on the way over and awkwardly shifted from her crawling position to a seated one on the floor, removing her helm as she did. Even seated and a little hunched forward, her head was still a good 7 or 8 feet up, just about to brush the ceiling. "Morning," she said in a pleasant tone. "This wouldn't happen to be you would it?" She asked, carefully placing the wanted poster on the table.

Bar of the Bulls' Masts

A woman taller than anything that she had seen before in her life entered the tavern. Looking up at her, that tall lady makes her look short, not that she was already short to begin with.

Blood flushed away from her cheeks when she saw the bounty poster. One with her own face and name, with eight large numbers printed on it. “Higher than Valar…” She expected an eventual bounty, but not something as high as that one. Taking a deep breath to maintain on her composure at such situation, she noticed another person entering the bar. Bakuto, but with thick layered cloaks. She couldn’t hardly recognize him from the way he was right now, as she couldn’t tell how many layers of those cloaks he was wearing. If this is what he call ‘disguise’, he is doing quite a good job in it…?

“Yes, you’re right, you all are honest merchants,” The bartender eyed on the gold coin that he was holding, his mustache was the only thing that was hiding his thick green. Alesia was just being generous on her payments, and that bartender seemed to take it as a ‘bribe’. To each to her own, she supposed.

“Ahem… ‘Alesia’ is quite a common name. We’re just ‘treasure hunters’, and those damned marines are the ones who attacked us first,” Alesia dragged a chair from the nearby table, “But the Scarlet Pirates is recruiting, and we’re still deciding on how to split our spoils. I’m thinking of an even split of 10 million, and the reserves will go to a new ship after we reach the Grand Line. The Reverse Mountain is a bit troublesome to cross…”

---

Bull’s Mast Tavern Corner
At another corner of the Bull’s mast, the fortune teller drew out a deck of cards. One by one the signs are revealed: The Card of Ravens, following the Card of the Clouds, then a Wilted Feather and the symbol of the White Cross. The last card shows the Skull Symbol. “Huh…” The young fortune teller muttered, creasing a frown.

Adrian was annoyed. He was constantly on the run from the Marines, but his island-hopping journey had led him to, of all places, Loguetown. A place with a good pirate culture due to its proximity to the Grand Line, but a horrible World Government infestation.

Many pirates had been caught here. He'd been lucky that his weapons were concealable; he could hide them under his clothing. Or failing that, in the bag he carried on him.

He had a ship he used to get here: A small yacht, stolen from a well-to-do individual on the last island he was on. He always liked to steal a different boat from each place he escaped from, when things got hairy. The Marines on the next island wouldn't recognize the boat that pulled in, and with a careful application of disguises, he could pass as its owner. So here he was, disguised as a rich tourist to the site of Gol. D. Roger's execution. But of course, such a ruse wouldn't work forever.

Still, the One Piece was beyond the Grand Line. There were lots of pirates here as a result. The Marines wouldn't be looking for him if there were a thousand other criminals passing through every day.

Criminal. He hated that word now, oh so very much. It was a word that the World Government could use to label anyone it didn't like as a threat to be neutralized, by any means necessary. Sure, he was no saint. But he was a damn sight better than the countless bloodthirsty pirates that plagued the East Blue alone, and he didn't deserve to be treated like them for standing up to oppression! He was a rebel, not a crook! But of course, to a totalitarian regime, there was no distinction.

But, alas, this was the world he lived in, and so here he was, getting breakfast from a deserted, seedy bar in the middle of the morning on an island full of Marines who would try to arrest him on sight.

But then he overheard something from another table.

“Ahem… ‘Alesia’ is quite a common name. We’re just ‘treasure hunters’, and those damned marines are the ones who attacked us first,” Alesia dragged a chair from the nearby table, “But the Scarlet Pirates is recruiting, and we’re still deciding on how to split our spoils. I’m thinking of an even split of 10 million, and the reserves will go to a new ship after we reach the Grand Line. The Reverse Mountain is a bit troublesome to cross…”

Alesia? That captain Alesia? The new kid on the block that prioritized finding treasure over theft and murder? Well, this was an interesting development!

He'd known that he would need protection for a while now. There was only so much even the equivalent of a mid-to-high-tier CP9 agent could do on their own to evade capture by an entire planet of Marines. He had been running and fighting with no end goal. There was no place safe from a government that owned the world. You couldn't get out of their jurisdiction, you couldn't seek asylum, you couldn't do jack. So to get away from them, the best place to hide was among the criminal population. Unfortunately, that tended to surround you with pirates the majority of the time.

But Alesia was different. At least, so far. She primarily sought after treasure that didn't belong to anyone (such as the One Piece), and she had directly attacked a Marine ship. And evidently, she won.

If he was going to get protection from the Marines, an end goal, and a permanent place to sleep and store more belongings than could fit in a knapsack, here was his only chance.

He finished up his food, paid his tab, and approached her with a jovial expression on his face. An expression that wasn't actually forced, for once. His emotions were showing due to the seriousness of this opportunity.

"Hello there, Captain. Do you mind if I sit here? I have something to ask you."

@Noodles

"Hey Alesia wait up!" Flint would shout as he chased after the girl. He was mildly annoyed as he really wanted to get his shopping done, and Alesia was the one carrying the money. Sure he had the reward money, but that was to be supplementary to their funds. Luckily for him, the captain would give up on chasing after that suspicious dog and head to a Tavern. He'd follow her in and get chewed out for losing her "pet". Now was a good time to get the money for supplies. "Sorry about losing Scruffy Cap'. I thought someone had him tied down. If you want I can try and find another pet while I'm out getting supplies. Speaking of them, could you try and keep out of trouble long enough for me do to that?"

As he looked around, his gaze stopped and lingered. It was that man! He looked just like the description the mayor gave him. Well, at least he wouldn't need to spend too much time to hunt him down. He also noticed there some people coming in. He chuckled as he heard her discuss the spread of the treasure they took from the Shade pirates. He didn't mind it being generous, but if they needed a new ship. Well those weren't cheap. Flint would definitely add his share to that new ship reserve. "Seems like you're quite charming cap. If we get more people you might need to trade in the Sloop for a larger ship or at least buy one if it you're unwilling to part with it. Of course we probably shuffled out some old crew since I could have sworn some of them just disappeared into the crowd. Anyway I'm going to take some money and get some supplies."

Flint would get up and take the money and then moved to the fortune teller's table. He'd take a close seat to the man and then slide him the cash and the letter. "You mind if make this fortune private or at least close to it as possible? I was told to deliver this letter to you, by a certain someone." He tried not to draw too much attention from the crew. He had no clue what he'd end up getting involved in by delivering this letter. But it would be for the best to keep other people's involvement to a minimum unless he really needed help.

Tavern Corner - The Great Fortune Telling @Jerkchicken
“Not even a sign of tamperings, to think that you would deliver this letter,” The fortune teller gazed at the seals of the letter, then pushing the letter back to Flint,” A surprise that you pirates are so honest. But I already figured out what this letter is about, something regarding Duke Benniad.”

The fortune teller drew out a sign form the deck of cards. The symbol of the Marshes. “Should you want to challenge the man that hides under another name, it won’t be an easy voyage for you and the crew.”

Breaking the waxed seal, the fortune teller pulled out a small letter, placing it at Flint’s side. There it reads:

I’ll skip with the formalities as you requested, I’ve confirmed this from the Rumours of the Brown Isles. Duke Benniad of the Kingdom of Argin is indeed the pirate Rel’chunk.

A letter as short as it is, yet it conveyed what it needed. Rel’chunk the ‘Lord of the Evening’, one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea.

The second card that the fortune teller drew was the card of the Wilted Feather, then the sign of snakes, the sign of an oasis, and lastly the sign of a ghastly old man with a sword.

“Allow me to explain further, your captain has a liking to animals,” He pointed to the card of snakes, “And I can see that you have raised an Arctic Wolf. Seems like it escaped recently.”

The fortune telling was accurate, as he pointed on the wilted feather and continued, “Your Crew have a few interesting people. That is in the news, but you fought a Marine Lieutenant, one that is stronger than his own rank. The other two cards are more relevant to your crewmates. So any further questions to ask?”

---

Tavern – Alesia @Genon
Another person, a man in a black suit joined the table. Alesia felt that she had been getting all the unwanted attention lately. She should’ve gotten a copy of newspaper beforehand, as she pondered on what the news wrote about. Perhaps not of something pleasant. She replied without showing much expression, “Sure, go ahead.”

Hertha snorted at the caution exhibited by Alisa in 'maintaining the appearance of just humble travelers', it was probably wise, but Hertha knew that laying low was never going to be an option for her once she started piracy proper. While she didn't know if her family name of 'Redrivers' still held any clout in the private community out in the grand line seeing as dad died over 40 years ago now and the memory of humans was often short; the fact that she was a giant woman was going to make it impossible to blend in most places. Still, she'd respect the potential captain's wishes, no need to cause a fuss or call unwanted attention to them if that wasn't what they were looking for. She glanced at the chairman pushed out to her, and then the one Alisa pushed to her. She really wasn't sure if the chairs build for your average human-sized person could hold her, nor would they be all that comfortable to sit in if they could, but she wasn't going to be so rude as to decline her possible new captain and fellow crew members hospitality. She seized both chairs and slid them together until they were touching. Hopefully, they could carry her weight together. She gingerly sat down as carefully as she could, the wood creaking and visible bowing under her weight...but it seemed to hold for now. "I'm not interested in any cut of treasure I didn't help you get. If you insist on giving me any share, just put it towards your next ship. Getting one that has room for me to get out of the sun or rain could possibly be a bit expensive if you are interested in having me aboard. Though I am used to just making do with a sturdy tent on the deck in my time sailing these seas, if I'm going to call a ship home I would prefer it to but an actual roof over my head, even if it's just in the cargo hold."

Tavern -- Alesia and Adrian
Interactions: @BladeSS4 Bakuto @KiltmanBagz Hertha
This was a collab with @Noodles.

“I just have one question. Is it true that you choose to take treasure from empty tombs and ancient ruins rather than steal from innocents?” Adrian asked, his expression becoming serious. “That’s what I’ve heard through the grapevine, anyway.”

“Tsk…” Alesia let out an audible click from that question of that man of the neatly ironed suit. Just what had those newspapers written about her? Somehow she became known as a pirate who didn’t steal anything…. “That might be true, but we are pirates, not saints. But I don’t kill people who don’t try to kill me.”

Adrian’s face morphed into a grin. “Excellent. You said you were recruiting, right? Count me in. The name’s Adrian Hex. I’ve been looking for a crew that’s a bit more on the ethical side than most. But trust me, I’m not exactly a saint myself.”

“Right, we are also splitting the plunder, so you can take your cut of the treasury,” Alesia opened the treasure box, inside it reveals stolen jewelries and bundles of cash. “Should you want to join us on the voyage of the Grand Line, I’m suggesting a 10 million split for each of the crew.”

An 80-million Beri pile...not bad for someone heading straight from the East Blue. he thought to himself. Still, even if it’s not quite an equal share, ten million Beris is certainly an upgrade...and I’d rather be on her good side. Besides, maybe they’re saving up for a new ship or something. Or a few more crew members. And I see she’s hunting for the One Piece. It’s certainly in-character, if nothing else.

“I’m fine with that,” Adrian said, after a moment’s thought. “And thanks,” he said to Bakuto.

“Our ship, the White Pearl, will set sail by dusk. Sure its a bit hasty, but like what Bakuto said, I won’t be taking any risks with that old marine at our tails,” Alesia announced. She wasn’t surprised to see people rejecting the share of the plunder. Some people wouldn’t like to find themselves with too much money in their wallets, she thought. Her eyes shifted towards the table of the Fortune Teller. Flint? She wasn’t sure on why her first mate would go wasting money on such things. Older people tend to be more…superstitious....

“After entering the Grand Line, we’ll buy a new ship,” Leaning against the back of the chair, she continued,“ I’ll procure some supplies and navigational tools for the oncoming voyage.”