[IC] One Piece: A Golden Age, A Dark Age - The Golden Fleece Chronicles

[Hillan]

G O L D E N F L E E C E

The waves hit against the hull of the sloop softly, like a mother trying to make her baby fall asleep, the little boat had been through a lot, traveling across half the world just to get here, taking a journey no boat like it had ever been meant to take. Yet, here it was, beaten and broken, held together by thick ropes of golden wool, as the ship docked in the harbor of the nearby Island of Little Lechi, a fishing village out of one of West Blue's biggest metropolitan areas, Lefacti, named after an old king who used to live on the very same island.

Off the boat, three sets of legs walked, in the front, were the elegant, freshly polished boots of one Sancho Graham, he donned a unbuttoned black coat with a golden trim of fine quality, yet, the coat had a few small tears, and signs of being worn, because just like the boat and the man itself, it had traveled all over the world. Next to him, were his two companions, Samehana and Hamel, together, they were Pirates. A caste not often seen in these waters.

Sancho looked around, smelling the air of the small harbor. "We need food. Real. Food." Sancho emphizes, tired of the meats of the seas, he wanted a real proper salad, with a side of chicken - his favorite. He looked around, people didn't seem to notice them, focused on something else, for in the distance, a group of 15 or so men were heading down the small hill. "Oh shit." Sancho heard from one of the fishermen. "They're coming early this month.. This is bad, it's been a bad fishing season."

The group of fifteen made their way into the harbor, Sancho and his two companions stood idly by and watched as the men started tearing up shops, destroying produce, and threatening the workers. "YOU THINK YOU CAN BE SAFE FROM US FOREVER?!" The man shouted in the face of a small elderly woman "H-Help!" the woman cried. Sancho tapped Hamel and Samehana on the shoulder. "You guys go get something to eat. I'll catch up." He promised them.

In the next moment, the man who was shouting at the woman was on the floor, sliding on the mud. Sancho looked at the other guys. "You guys looking for a fight?" He asked them, his voice was dull, like he himself was not really looking for a fight.

The fourteen men looked at each other "T-This isn't part of the plan, right?" One of them said, in the back. "N-No, don't think so, never seen this guy before. G-Get Greg and get the hell out of here!" Another one said, as they picked up the man Sancho had downed, and scurried back up the hill.

".. I really did expect them to fight me, huh." Sancho said, relaxing his tance again. He turned to the woman. "You Okay?" He asked, and the woman handed him a wad of bellies. "Ten thousand. As always. J-Just take it and leave us be."

"What?"

"For the protection. We know you won't come next time when those ruffians show up unless we pay you."

"I have no clue what you're talking about. Keep your money. If you want to repay me, tell me where there's a good place to get food." Sancho said, tying his curly blonde hair into a makeshift knot. "Oh, uh, right down that corner. A-Are you sure you don't want money? Mister Kato's always really stri-"

"Who?"

"Mister Kato, o-our protector. Y-Your boss, right?"

"No, not exactly." Sancho told her, as he bid her farewell, heading off towards the place she talked about, hoping to find Samehana and Hamel on his way. This little resupply run was turning into more of a situation than Sancho had liked it to be, but hopefully, straighten this all out would be done before dusk.

[Pacifista]

"Alright, captain's orders!" Sandal clad feet scampered away from the wreckage, a few eyes turning after briefly in a moment of bewilderment.

Long blue pants ending at his ankles, a shaggy green coat over his short sleeved white shirt, his medium length light green hair tussled, Hamelin Foley's wide grin turned to a frown as he realized one sad fact. "...This place is boring."

Trekking across the dirt paths, getting further and further away from the action, though it seemed to have quieted back down for now. Hamel giggled: no way it was going to be that easy.

Head swiveling as he scanned for a way to get supplies, it looked like they were going to be out of luck. But the mood on the island was so dour he was starting to get depressed.

---

"Eh? Even if it is Lefacti Island..."

"How much worse can it be than here?"

"We're being protected from them!"

"Then where? At this...do you mind?"

Munching on a roll, Hamel tilted his head slightly as he leaned back in his chair, the couple conversing nearby having turned to look at them.

Swallowing, Hamel insisted, "Oh, no." As he took another bite, he refused to move his position, head hanging not too far from their table. After a moment, he waved, "Keep going."

The tow looked back at each other, before he looked back at Hamel, wondering, "Are you...listening?"

Hamel shrugged, "Well I was hoping I'd hear something important, you know? Something I'd need to know later." As he explained, his pinky found its way into his nose, his others still holding on to his food.

The two blinked it a stark, utter bafflement, before taking their cleaned plates and leaving to another table in the nearly empty open air restaurant. Kicking his seat back up and returning to his plate, Hamel cried, "Rude!" Several breadcrumbs scattered from his mouth to the patched table cloth.

[RyoRyoRyoken]

While on the one hand, Samehana was slightly annoyed at Sancho roundaboutly insulting her cooking, she couldn't help but share a similar sentiment herself. Besides, eating one's own cooking could sometimes get a little boring anyway. It wouldn't be long before the captain decided to play hero, giving her and Hamel the go-ahead to get food. Sizing up the fifteen men that had gathered, the fishwoman smirked before taking her leave. "Give 'em hell, captain~." she chimed over her shoulder, her smile revealing a set of incredibly sharp, pearly white teeth.

Perhaps due to a combination of being a fishwoman, or her generally striking appearance, Samehana received a few looks as she passed through the town. With pale white skin, pinkish-red eyes and black hair that, despite being held up by a pair of chopsticks, flowed down to her ankles, she already stood out rather alarmingly if one was not used to fishfolk. That was without considering the fact that the fishwoman was remarkably well-endowed, a fact that was accentuated by her choice of dress. Made of a black material that looked more like a second skin than actual cloth, her backless top came up to a high collar and left a window for her chest, while also entirely baring her midriff for those who wanted to admire her taut abdomen. Her pants (which could be arhued were more like tights) were made of the same material, with a band of red going around each of her thighs. They extended down to her feet, where they met with a pair of red "sneakers".

While Hamel was excitedly exiting the situation with the the thugs, Samehana calmly followed after him, remaining not far behind the crew's first mate.

---

A napkin made its way to Hamel's face, wielded by Samehana, who wiped her crewmate's face clean of any food debris. A sigh escaped her as she shook her head, though this was in contrast with the smirk on her face. "You could at least try to have some table manners in public, can't you?" she remarked, watching as the unfortunate diners Hamel was interacting with relocated themselves. Shrugging, she returned to her steak, having resolved to fill up before she went to find some kind of dojo or, barring that, just go fishing for when the crew eventually departed.

"Hm. Y'know, if those are the kind'a guys that can run things on this island, we might be dealing with some real small-fry." the fishwoman remarked, thinking back to her observation of the thugs from earlier. Sancho had probably made quick work of them by now, so there was a good chance that he was on his way. "I'm gonna take a walk." the fishwoman bounded out of the door, leaving poor Hamel, or maybe Sancho, to pick up the cost of her meal.

"Now, let's see if we can't find any hidden gems here..."

[Hillan]

Sancho made his way to the resturant, finding his path thanks to the whispers among the people regarindg the "Big boobed fish lady" as one gentleman had called his second mate and cook. When he first allied himself with the fishwoman, the pirate made a point of confronting just about anyone who lacked the manners to treat Samehana with respect, regardless of her race, these days he's come to the conclussion that it does not bother the woman, and it's wasted energy, energy better spent on other tasks.

Such as figuring out what's going on on this island, he thought. He found the place where his crewmates would surely be, if the townspeople could be trusted. He entered the room, finding Hamel chatting up the locals, whom were equal parts intrigued and disgusted with the man. A soft grin on his face. "You're making friends, I see." Sancho said, sitting down next to Hamel, he quickly grabbed a napkin, handing it to Hamel, whom had food all over his face once again.

"Please." Sancho pleaded. looking over at the man behind the counter. "Your finest salad, chicken in it." He said as the chef scoffed. "We're out of salad and chicken. We've got soup, and bread."

".. I'll take that, then." Sancho said, a little surprised. A few minutes later, the soup and four pieces of breed arrived. It was far from the best food he had ever seen. He took a piece of breed - it was stale, just about hard enough to use as a rock. He sighed, dipping the bread in the soup, and taking a bite. With another sigh, he put down the bread, and pushed the plate with soup a few inches.

"Something wrong with the soup?" The chef asked, but the way he spoke made it sound more like a threat. "I realized I had already eaten." Sancho said, looking at Hamel. "Where did Samehana go? There's something going on around here."

[Pacifista]

Hamel bit his tongue as the encroaching napkin cleaned of his face. He accepted it. He didn't like it, but he accepted it. He knew better than to earn Samehana's bad side. As she stated her intent, Hamel mumbled, "Laaater," before returning to his meal of, bread gravy-like soup (though it may have been soup-like gravy, Hamel didn't question it).

As Sancho arrived, Hamel was quickly finishing up. As he cleaned up a bit, wiping his face and picking at his teeth, Sancho asked about Samehana as he failed to finish his food.

Hamel answered, "Eh, I figured. Something about protection?" Licking a bit of soup crumb off his lips, he said, "Samehana went for a walk so I'll bet she'll run into something." Nostrils flaring as he caught the soup, he asked, "You gonna finish that?"

[RyoRyoRyoken]

The doom and gloom of the fishing town was beginning to wear on Samehana's mood a bit. It didn't help that the island didn't appear to have any real local fighters, though that was to be expected with the fact that they could so easily be terrorized by the lot from earlier. Suddenly, her interest was piqued when another group of men, this time sans the masks that the fifteen from before were wearing, strolled into town. They were armed, but they looked confused rather than hostile. Were they lost or something? Faint whispers were exchanged between the group before a young man came up to meet them. "Hey, didn't you guys send that blonde guy to take care of the pirates earlier?" he asked, wondering what the group were doing in town. Samehana chuckled at the idea of Sancho working for the group, but decided to listen in due to the misunderstanding that seemed to be happening.

"Uhh..." the man who seemed to be the "leader" of the group turned back to the party accompanying him, looking more than a little shaken before he turned back to the young man, putting a brave face back on. "Yeah! We're just coming by to pick 'im up right now. Figured we'd see if the new recruit can take out the trash by himself before we let 'im on the team full time, y'know?" It was a decent save, the fishwoman had to hand it to him. Though, if the "Kingslayer" happened to overhear this conversation, there was a good chance that it wouldn't go terribly well for the charlatans here.
"Mind telling us where our pal ran off to? I'm sure he's just itching to see us." the man asked, draping an arm around the younger man's shoulders. While the he was visibly uncomfortable, and maybe even a bit skeptical of the explanation provided, the young man decided to help the would-be protectors out by pointing them in the direction of the restauraunt. "Hora hora~. Word really travels fast here, doesn't it?" Samehana thought, skipping after the group as they went to go find Sancho.

Samehana made her way over to the front of the group, stopping them in their tracks. "Hora hora~. You guys are the protectors of this place, huh? That means you must be pretty strong~." she chimed, leaning forward a bit bit with her arms crossed behind her back.
"Yeah, yeah, the strongest. We're a bit busy, sugar, so you might wanna move." one of the men stepped forward, placing a hand on Samehana's shoulder, which prompted a mischievous smile to split the fishwoman's lips.

---

"So, is there anyone else who wants to pass?" Samehana inquired, legs crossed over one another as she sat on the back of the man who'd touched her shoulder earlier, using him as a sort of human chair while he did push-ups. From the looks of the dirt all over his body and the state of his face, it seemed to be rather clear that this wasn't necessarily a situation he got into of his own volition. "About two-hundred more and you should be on the right track, sugar." she purred mockingly, patting the (un)fortunate man on the head.

[Hillan]

Sancho made a grimace at Hamel when the first mate asked to finish his soup for him. Sancho pushed the plate towards him with the back of his hand and said coldly "Go ahead." The chef shot him another nasty look "My soup ain't good enough for you, pretty boy?!" The cook accused Sancho this time, and Sancho scoffed. "You already asked that. And I said I had already eaten."

"Lies!" The chef shouted. "You don't think my food is very good!"

"Fine, you caught me. I think the food was bad, the soup didn't taste very nice, your ingredients are low quality, and the bread was stale. A rock and seawater would be a tastier meal than that." Sancho spoke, no malice in his voice, simply as if he was stating a fact, the patrons of the pub looked at him. "... Did he just say that?" Someone said.

"T-To Cormac?!" Another patron said, as the Chef went into the back of the resturant, shouting angrily. "Say what to who? His food was bad, and he pushed me to tell him."

"Y-Yo really shouldn't have done that, son.." An elderly man said, as he got up from his chair and left the building, the entire tavern was cleaned out in the next ten seconds. "... Hell's going on here?" Sancho asked, as he heard the cocking of a gun, and quickly dove next to the corner. The rain of bullets flew past him, as Cormac came out, his greasy white shirt covered his beergut, with several stains on it, he wore an eyepatch he had not worn before, and now he had a bandanna on his head instead of the hairnet he wore before. He also donned a black jacket a couple of sizes too small - no way was he able to close it over his rather big gut. [Mad Chef Cormac, 1st Mate of the DOOM Pirates 4th Division]

"Ya think you can come into my resturant, and disrespect my food like that?! Do you know how much spit I've put into the soup!?"

"Somehow, I think that was the problem with the soup!" Sancho shouted back, hearing the chef reload his musket, he stood up, only to be met with his four duckfoot pistol barrels being fired at him, just in time, Sancho managed to make a shield out of the golden material coming out of his forearms, the wool created a hard enough surface to block teh bullets.

"What the hell?!" Cormac asked, as Sancho looked at Hamel. "Let's get out of here." He told him, as he threw the circle of wool at Cormac, the two of them heading out of the tavern, to where Samehana was, sitting on a pirate. There were worse scenarios they could've found her in.

"Great, you're here. Things seem to be getting messier now."

The door was kicked open as Cormac kicked it off the hinghes, now he was donning a musket and a meat cleaver. "YOU'RE GONNA PAY FOR THAT, BOY!" He shouted at Sancho, whom looked at him with tired eyes. "Men, what the hell are you doing! Mess these kids up, or the captain's gonna tan your hides!" he shouted, and suddenly, the men Samehana had disciplined stood up, and got urged to draw their swords. "Cormac! We called in the other two squads, they're coming down the hill now, we'll outnumber them!" The man said as Cormac smiled sadistically.

"Good. You three shitheads are gonna feel the WRATH OF THE DOOM PIRATES FOURTH DIVISION"

"Oh great. Pirates. Well, guys, we were waiting for this to happen." Sancho said, looking at his crewmates.

[Pacifista]

Barreling down on Sancho, Cormac's cleaver chopped through the air, but before it found a cushion of wool, a long leafy blade slipped in near the hilt, stopping it dead.

Stem sprouting from his wrist and snapping off as he continued to hold off the cleaver, Hamel began, "4th Division?" Free hand scratching his cheek, he wondered, "What about the other three?" A smile of recognition coming to his face, he said, "Unless they're coming."

Cormac grunted, eyes locked onto his stuck cleaver, before he growled, "They're beyond you! The rest of the Doom Pirates are sailing the Grand Line!"

Hamel sighed, "Aw, bummer. You're the toughest one here?" His hand reached down to scratch his rear.

Cormac blinked, "Huh? I said you'd get tanned, didn't I?"

"Huh? Sancho'll tan you, yeah, I guess."

Confusion being overwritten by a flash of red, Cormac growled, "I'm more than enough First Mate for you!" Lifting his knife, he cut sideways but Hamel ducked underneath before springing upwards once the knife sailed overhead. Flipping, he shot a kick out to Cormac's chin, staggering him backwards before landing on his back, rolling away, barreling into Sancho, tripping as the two stumbled into a heap.

"Haha. Whoops."

"You..." Cormac hissed, his men readying an assault.

Sancho trying to get up from on top of him, Hamel laid there, a blank look on his face as he wondered, "Why are pirates here if they're supposed to be protected?"

[RyoRyoRyoken]

For a while, the situation had been entirely under control. It appeared that the group of pirates had sense enough to stand down, since they'd all decided to sit around and wait until the fishwoman got bored, mentally counting the reps of strenuous exercise of their compatriot who was being used as a chair by the aquatic maiden. "Doin' great so far, Dilbert!" one of the men shouted, giving a few weak claps, only to stop when he realized he was the only one providing any sort of encouragement for the man.

The awkward display was cut short by the sudden appearance of Sancho, Hamel, and some fat man in a ridiculous get-up, who appeared to be in command of the little troupe here judging by the quickness with which the "free" troublemakers decided to leap into action. "Never a dull moment with you, huh, Sanchie-dear~?" Samehana remarked, smirking at the casual manner in which the captain seemed to address the situation. Deciding to stand up from the now-fatigued gentleman, Samehana picked him up by the scruff of his shirt and tossed him at a few of the men who'd drawn their weapons, knocking them to the ground as the rest surged forward to make their assault.

"Hora hora~. 'Doom Pirates', hm? How scarrryyy~." Samehana chimed, baring her sharp teeth with an almost savage glee as one of the pirates swung a cutlass towards her in a downward arc. As the blade made its way toward her form, her hand quickly shot up, he palm making impact with the flat of the blade. Rather than simply slapping the blade away, instead the sword snapped in two, only for Samehana to snatch the top half out of the air and throw it into the foot of another man approaching from the side, pinning his foot to the ground.

"Yeeeoowwwie~. That might have been a bit too far, huh, sweetie?" she cooed, sidestepping another strike as she scratched the back of her head, planting a knee into the chest of the pirate whose sword she broke. Considering how weak these guys appeared to be, the fishwoman almost felt bad for having to beat on them. It was practically bullying. But, from the looks of things, this seemed to be a matter of them getting their just desserts. Weaving through attacks and delivering her own in turn, Samehana made sure to stick to some rather basic punches and kicks, deciding that actually bothering to apply techniques in this situation, was probably overkill. Sure, these guys probably weren't the nicest bunch, but there didn't seem to be any real benefit to crippling the fools.

The fishwoman chuckled slightly, having seen the rather embarrassing display Hamel put on. Or, at least, it might've been embarrassing for someone who wasn't Hamel. In any case, the Fleece's first mate posed an interesting question. "Hm. Well, these guys seemed awfully prepared to kick some pirate ass when they showed up here. Maybe Sancho happened to steal their thunder?" Samehana remarked, jabbing an elbow into the face of yet another pirate before using the weight of another pirate's attack to hip toss him into two more attackers.

[Hillan]

Hamel hit Sancho as Sancho generated a new shield to block the rain of bullets coming his way, the wool came around him like a mantle, covering him as he turned around, the wool cloak catching the shells that would've ended the pirates life - that was, till his first mate capped him by the knees, sending the two - and the lead ridden cloak into one messy pile on the stone road.

"Dude!" Sancho shouted, as he pushed the first mate off of him. Cormac looked at him. "BOY, STOP LAYING THERE WITH YOUR BOYFRIEND!" As Sancho grunted. "You know what? Hamel, mess him up." Sancho said, as he looked to the side, at the men fighting Samehana, and the another ten guys coming down the hill a few meters away. Sancho stood up, dusted himself off, and spun around, a thick rope of wool was whipped around one of the men's chest, tying around him tightly, as Sancho swung him around - effortlessly, as he slung the man on a rope around, striking down the pirate's mates, Sancho let go after he has spun around once, the majority of pirates- sans three or four who evaded the wrath of the golden fleece pirate.

"All right, where's your dumbass captain, or do I have to go to the grandline to get him?" Sancho asked Cormac, whom was swinging at Hamel.

[Pacifista]

"Good question," Hamel said, answering Sancho with a thoughtful hand on his chin as he leaned away from one of Cormac's strikes. As he charged up for another blow, Hamel outstretched a hand, Cormac stopping in surprise.

"Hmmm, you're kinda dumb, aren't you?"

"Hah!?" Cormac growled.

"Even if you beat me...I mean, that's impossible, but let's just pretend. You couldn't beat Samehana and Sancho, right?"

"W-why not?"

"See, you're all worried. No confidence...it's kinda disappointing, really." As Cormac was too stunned to reply, Hamel tossed and arm over the larger man's shoulder, insisting, "It'd be better to run and wait for backup, right? Then give us a real good fight! Or try. Mostly I just don't want to be standing around doing nothing why my guys beat up your guys."

"...Your guys?"

"Shhh, they don't know yet." Hamel said, before raising his fist and delving it into Cormac's gut. As the cook doubled over, Hamel started away, saying, "Sound like a plan then?"

Turning his head back, a large, metal flail shot at him, striking him across the face. Hamel fell back, rolling to a stop a bit closer to Sancho and Samehana. Letting out a cough, he muttered, "Ow." Looks like they had company...

[RyoRyoRyoken]

"Hora hora~. Careful, Hammmy~." Samehana cooed as she watched the man get whacked with a flail. That certainly looked pretty painful. Her giggling was soon interrupted by a swift strike towards her face. The blade of the sword made contact, jolting her head back and prompting a chuckle from the assailant. "Oooh, did I ruin your pretty face, girlie?" the wild-looking man giggled wildly, tapping the second sword he was holding on his shoulder. However, he soon stopped laughing once he heard muffled giggles from the fishwoman who he'd supposedly slashed across the face. Rather than having cut the woman, she'd actually caught the blade in her teeth! The glistening, pearly white, razor sharp teeth had the blade firmly locked in place. Casting a mischievous look at the twin blade wielding man, Samehana simply bit down into the blade, shattering it. The wild, crimson-maned man let out a howl of laughter and backflipped away, grabbing one of the cutlasses from one of the downed pirates mid-rotation to replace his now-useless sword.

"Ho~. You're pretty good, managing to sneak up on me like that. I hope you won't be quite as easy to put down as your friends." Samehana remarked, giving herself a good stretch before taking a proper stance for once. "As a reward for doing such a good job, I think I'll take you a little more seriously."

"Kishishshi. Alright, girlie. We'll see how long you can keep up that sass of yours~." the wild man crooned, licking one of his blades before once again leaping forward to engage the sharkwoman.

"I look forward to the meal~." Samehana purred, stepping forward to meet the man, now unconcerned for now with the situation that her crewmates would get into.

[Hillan]

Sancho looked over at Cormac and Hamel, seeing the other two men - and more troops arriving, as he was dealing with the rest of the mooks that had come with the cook, a swift dodge from a blade cutting past him, riposted with a devestating right-hook, sending the man to the ground, but then came the flail, swinging Hamel in the face, sending him to the floor. "Tssk. Hamel, you better shape up. Twice in one day you're eating dirt."

"And y'all about to join him. You're messing with the Doom Pirate Armada, and you will not make it out of here alive, blondie." The man with the flail in one hand, and a mace in the other. "You're messing with Captain Morning Star!" [Morning Star, Captain of the 4th Division of the Doom Pirate Armada, Member of the Lefacti Pirate Order. Bounty: 15 Million Bellies.] His men howled, cackling as Morning Star made his way to Sancho. "So you're the one in charge, heh? Well, then, Blonde. YOU'RE MINE!" The man shouted, as he charged at Sancho, with rather impressive speed, the flail passing over Sancho's head just, as he dodged under it.

"GOT YOU!" Morning Star exclaimed, as he spun around - to the mid-dodge Sancho, slamming his blunt mace into Sancho's face. Fleece Jacket As the golden wool spawned from his chest, covering his face, protecting him from damage, but still sending him to the ground. The captain used the momentum of his fall too roll back up, grabbing Morning Star's right arm - which was still outstretched, and lobbing the man over his head, throwing him across the street, four meters ahead of himself. Tossing the larger man in such a fashion did not seem straining at all for the young captain.

"OOOOHH MAN. YOU GONE GET IT NOW! DOOM PIRATES, LIGHT EM' UP!" Morning star shouted, as the pirates all trained their guns on the Pirate Trio, whom had all been herded into being forced into circle.

[Pacifista]

Wiping his nose as the crew was once again surrounded, Hamel was unable to suppress a grin. "These small fry really don't know when to quit." Stepping forwards, he took a long, hard, deep breath, before plugging up his nose with each of his thumbs. "Hickory...Pharoah!" He said before clamping down on his mouth, face puffing as he blew out. From his clothed arms sprouted dozens of small leaves, which remained for just a moment before flying off, halting and regrowing once again. The storm blew sideways, raining upon the mooks, who cried in surprise as they pulled back.

Moments later, Hamel stopped, catching his breath. The pirates blinked, brushing away the small leaves. "Wh-what?"

"They're just leaves," Hamel said.

"Hold your fire..." Cormac rumbled, stomping forwards. "I'm making freak stew outta these three. Don't want any lead poisoning..."

Hamel wiped his forehead. "Whew. I was wondering how I was gonna take them all out in one go." Turning to wave at Sancho and Samehana, he said, "You guys can handle it!"

Knife hacking down at him, Hamel raised his arm, catching his forearm bare. "Do I even need my Fruit for you?" Cormac flicked his wrist, the blade hacking into his shoulder. As Hamel reeled, he punched forward with his musket, jabbing it against Hamel's back.

BLAM

Smoke barreling, Hamel fell to his knees. Grunting, he clutched his arms to his front while a hole in his back burned. Moments later, he pulled his hands out from under his shirt, revealing a small leaf, a bullet embedded in its fibers. Standing, he tossed it aside. "That surprised me...if you didn't touch me I wouldn't have known where to grow that."

"Tried cooking with leaves before, but none like those. The hell are you made of?"

Holding his arm out to the side, a number of stems poked out from his green jacket. "I ate the Leaf Leaf Fruit so I'm a Leafy Human. I can grow them any way I want, but it takes longer to make them really tough. Unless they're small, then it's fine."

"Not that it matters. Doubt leaves'll taste different this time. Not that anyone'll complain."

Hamel ignored him, holding up three fingers, before revealing his palm, which had three stems on it. "I'll beat you with just these. No punches or kicks or anything. Just three leaves."

"Mocking me!" Cormac growled, charging once again. Hamel reached for one of the stems, which sprouted a forearm sized, flat leaf with a pointed tip. Taking it in his hand, he met the butcher knife head on. "Birchen Shogun!" As Cormac's blade bounced back, the leaf sword's tip snapped off, Hamel flashed his blade, the razor edge biting into Cormac's finger, gouging it, then the handle of the knife, seperating it from its edge.

Cormac cried out in pain before raising his firearm. Hamel reached out his hand, a long spike sprouting from it, driving into the barrel of the musket. "Pine Raja!" The trigger went, and the back of the musket exploded, scorching Corma's hand as the massive pine needle crumbled. Hamel's grin flashed as he pulled the hand back, holding it for several seconds as Cormac scrambled in pain, weaponless. An even larger needle came from Hamel's hand.

"Pine Maharaja!"

"Th-that's not a leaf!" Cormac cried, backing up in an attempt to flee. Hamel punched his arm forwards, the large needle firing, splitting into dozens midair. Hamel stuck his leg out behind him, stopping him from getting pushed back by the force of his own launched attack while the barrage stabbed into Cormac, dropping him flat.

"You barely know how to cook. What do you know about leaves?" Hamel laughed, turning his back on the remaining two officers of the Doom Pirates.

[RyoRyoRyoken]

"What's your name, girlie?" the wildman inquired between dodging and returning strikes, the two combatants ignoring the slowly enclosing numbers of the Doom Pirates. And, frankly, it didn't look like anyone wanted to get caught in the middle of the brawl going on in front of them. Turning her head to the side to avoid a sword thrust, Samehana giggled at the man's timing. Weren't you supposed to do introductions before a duel? Granted, this wasn't exactly a formal duel to begin with, so perhaps she could cut the man some slack.

"Samehana. Though, I don't believe I caught your name either." her hands flashed up and clapped against the blade whooshing down towards her, twisting slightly to snap the blade in two once again.

"Hehe, I knew that these cheap blades would be the death of me one day." the man remarked as he stepped back towards one of the pirate grunts, yanking the cutlass from his hand as yet another replacement. The ground around their fight was littered with broken blades, and it appeared that the wildman was quickly running out of weapons to draw from. "They call me Narga the Jackal. Can't say I remember what my bounty is at this point, seeings as I don' really care. But, missy, I reckon you've given me ample reason to reallly cut loose." Narga capped off his introduction by planting both of his swords into the ground. "Bring me my babies, you little shits!" he shouted at the crowd, prompting the pirates to part as two men brought out a pair of long objects wrapped in cloth. Smiling, the Jackal quickly unwrapped them, revealing a pair of rather ornate straight swords, the blades looking to be of notably greater quality than the cutlasses Narga had been using, and of greater length as well. Taking the swords in hand, Narga twirled them about and got into a low stance, eyes taking a more predatory appearance as he licked his lips.
"Now, girlie.... You've gone and made me excited, so I hope you won't have any hard feelings when I turn you into a fish fillet."

"Hora hora~. Then I suppose you won't complain if I eat you up either, hm~?" Samehana retorted, an almost wicked smile playing across her lips, enhanced by the appearance of her teeth.

Without further delay, the two once again rushed forward to engage in combat. Instead of attacking with his blades immediately, Narga launched himself forward into a dropkick, prompting Samehana to block the unexpected strike as the Jackal planted his blades into the ground and spun around, balancing himself on the swords' pommels as he whipped his body around for another kick, his leg shooting around Samehana's guard to strike her in the face, knocking her off balance. Roaring with excitement at what appeared to be an opening, Narga used the opportunity to launch himself, pulling his blades out of the ground as he went airborne. Once he was above the fishwoman, he began to rotate as he descended, apparently intending to attack as some sort of spinning buzzsaw.

Togyo Sotoken

Two fists made impact with Narga's abdomen once he was about to make his strike, knocking him back into the air on impact and causing him to cough up blood as he looked down on the fishwoman, who was drifting further away as he flew into the air. "Fishman Karate: Karakusagawara Seiken" smirking, Samehana threw a punch in the direction of the airborne sword wielder, much to the confusion of the onlookers. However, as the broken sword pieces, and pebbles began to shake on the ground, they had no time to react as Narga head kicked back as if assailed by some invisible force, and those observing the fight were assaulted by a similar phenomenon, the more hardy individuals dropping to their knees while others simply lost consciousness from the impact of the invisible punch.

The wildman known as Narga the Jackal fell back down to the earth, landing on his head while his swords fell with him, one landing dangerously close to his nethers, while the other landed beside his face, the blade drawing blood due to scraping his cheek. Samehana waited a moment, her smile widening as Narga jumped up, propping his body up with a sword. "Hooo-wee~. Real fancy moves ya got there, sharkgirl. I'd heard the fishmen had some fancy techniques, but I hadn't come across any seafolk packin' that kinda business." he remarked, spitting out a tooth and wiping the blood from his mouth with a free hand before grasping his other blade.
"Whaddaya say you gimme another taste, eh, Samehana?" he growled, twirling his swords around again before dashing forward, this time moving in a zig-zag motion.

"Hora hora~. Eager, aren't you?" Samehana cooed, raising a leg before stomping it into the ground in front of her. "Fishman Karate: Arainamikyaku (Weak Style)" the ground directly under the impact of her foot blasted into pieces, sending debris and dust into the air that obscured Narga's vision. Then, from out of the dust came a fist, parting the dust cloud as Samehana appeared in front of the Jackal. "Senmaigawara.... Seiken." the fist made impact with Narga's face and sent him flying, knocking him through Doom Pirates like a bowling ball.
"Hora hora~. Ah, maybe I went a little overboard?" Samehana remarked aloud as she watched Narga slam into a fruit stand, which exploded from the impact, raining fruit and debris on those surrounding it. Well, he seemed pretty tough, so at the very least he might not have died, huh?

[Hillan]

The gunfire was prevented by Sancho's right-hand, Hamel, the leaves had dissuaded the pirates from attacking, for a time, but Hamel was busy fighting Cormac, while thier cook was fighting the Doom Pirates 4th Divisision Officer. Leaving Sancho alone with the warrior with the mace and the flail. He cracked his neck for a second, as Morning Star walked towards him, from the toss Sancho had given him. "You're pretty strong, you know that, kid?!" Morning Star asked, the middle-age pirate grinned, showing his ugly smile, rotting teeth and broken lips.

"And you're pretty pathetic." Sancho said, as the two men walked in a semi-circle of each other. "How about you and your two friends join me? I'll make you officers right here on the spot. Who knows, maybe the big boss will give you your own division someday." Morning Star bargained, and Sancho shook his head. "Or, I just kill you right here." The pirates words rang coldly, as a couple of Morning Star's soldiers winced, backing up, looking at each other and whispering "Think he can actually take the captain?"

Morning Star Chuckle. "Talking big stuff for a nobody no one's ever heard off. I saw your boat. You're nothing, kid. I'm Captain Morning Star, a 15 Million Pirate."

Sancho shrugged. "Quaking in my boots." He taunted as Morning Star looked over the blonde man's clothes. They were in bad shape, but once upon a time, they had been really expensive, Sancho's attire was probably almost worth as much as Morning Star's whole ship. His grin turned serious in the next moment, as he lashed out. "QUAKE ON THIS!" He shouted, charging Sancho, swinging his weapons at him, Sancho backstepped, dodging each swing gracefully, his cold eyes forever peering at Morning Star.

"RICH BOY CAN ONLY DODGE, HUH?!" The man shouted. "DARE YOU TO FIGHT ME LIKE A REAL PIRATE! TAKE THIS!" He shouted, as he attached the bottom of the flail to the bottom of the mace, making the mace into a two-handed hammer. "OOOHH SHIT! It's the Captain's Super Sledge!" One of the pirates shouted. "That thing can bring down a whole building!"

The hammer was brought down upon Sancho, the mace as big as his head, as it stopped right before impact. His gloved fingers were holding onto the metal, between the spikes. The veins showing in the younger - smaller man's face. His green eyes were almost glowing as he struck fear in the older Pirates face. "H-How?!" Morning Star cried, as Sancho kicked him in the chest, sending him backwards. Sancho threw the mace to the ground.

"D-Dammit!" He shouted, Sancho walked towards him, wool sprouting from his sleeve, Morning Star was trying to crawl away, as Sancho walked after him, stepping on his knee, snapping it, as the man howled. Two of his crewmates tried to stop the former Nobleman, only to be met with a wool whip to the face as Sancho flicked his left arm, knocking them both unconscious. From his right sleeve, a rope poured out, forming a noose. He put the noose around Morning Star's neck, as the pirate tried to fight him off, only to get punched in the face.

Sancho calmly threw the other end of the noose over the nook of a house, grabbing it as it fell down. "NO PLEASE!" Morning Star cried as tear welled in his eyes as he tried to fight off the noose that was pulling him ever closer.

"Cowards who pray on the innocent have no place in my world." Sancho said coldly. He pulled the rope, hunching down with such force that his coat blew in the wind behind him, he fastened the rope under his boot as people looked onto the brutal display in horror, even the townsfolk did so, as Morning Star fought, flailing his arms and legs, trying to scream for help, but no words escaped his lungs. His pirates stopped fighting as they looked on in shock. The final words Morning Star chose were "I-I'm Sorry!" as he asphyxiated.

With his other leg, Sancho stepped on a flintlock pistol next to him him, exerting force in such a way that the gun flipped into the air, Sancho grabbed the gun and put it upside down on his shoulder in one fluent motion, not even looking where he was aiming as he fired, the bullet cutting the rope he had made, breaking the noose, sending Captain Morning Star crashing to the ground.

"You best be good. Morning Star. Or we'll be back." Sancho promised, tossing the gun to the side, dragging some hair out of his face, his two crewmates following behind him.

"W-Who are you?!" Morning Star coughed out, holding his rope-burned neck, as his allies were cutting the noose off of him.

"I'm Sancho Graham. I'm the man who's gonna fix this world."

"We're the Golden Fleece Pirates."

[Pacifista]

---

"Ah, so they were exploiting the villagers for protection money..." Hamel nodded, now understanding.

Their ship, partially loaded with a scant amount of supplies taken from the Doom Pirates, was already prepping to head out once again, though it hadn't been docked for more than a few hours.

However, a crowd began to form around the ship, though it kept a safe distance. Finally, a man who'd approached Sancho earlier stepped forward, before placing a briefcase down. Cracking it open, he revealed the contents: it was filled with money. One stack of full bills, the rest coins and smaller bills, crumpled and stuffed inside.

Bowing his head, he said, "Please...I am the mayor of this small town. This is all I have to offer. We didn't know our protectors were the same pirates harassing us, but...they have allies! The rest of their crew, and those on Lefacti! Please, don't leave!" Digging his forehead into the dirt, he said, "Please!" Behind him, the townsfolk rippled like a wave as they too sank to their knees.

Hamel blinked, before his face cracked into a knowing smile as he leaned back against the railing of their small boat.

[Hillan]

Sancho nodded at Hamel's statement. "Indeed they were." He acknowledged, as the three started loading up their small schooner with the supplies they had taken from the Doom Pirates, whom had retreated back to their hideout by now. Sancho noticed the crowd that had formed on the docks, a few hundred feet away from the small schooner, they had originally chosen to ignore them, but soon the Mayor came forward and talked to the three pirates. He kneeled before Sancho and begged on his hands and knees.

Sancho raised an eyebrow, quite surprised - perhaps even a little amused that the 'most powerful man' in this village would submit his whole village to pirates like that. He spoke of Lefaci, he begged them to stay and protect the village from the pirates. And soon, the hundred or so people behind him all followed suit, falling to their knees, crying as they all pleaded in unison.

Sancho's face grew dark as his face turned emotionless - like it had when he was hanging Morning Star, he turned to Hamel, speaking a quick command. "Finish up." he stepped up from the boat, walking towards the mayor whom had his head to the dirt. Each step echoed with the raised heartbeat of the townsfolk whom were all peering up from the dirt.

The pirate grabbed the mayor by the collar, holding the man whom was at least two heads shorter than the pirate high into the air, as high as he could. "Either you're really brave, or really fucking foolish, begging pirates for help. You're showing your weakness, that you're incapable of defending yourself. You're prey. Pirates are predators." Sancho said, a twisted smile crept up on his face.

The mayor sobbed. "Y-You're right. I am a weak leader for these people... P-Please, kill me if you want, b-but protect my people!" He cried as Sancho's grin turned into a soft smile. His people gasped as the mayor offered his own life for their safety, several of the townsfolk protested, but the mayor silenced them all.

"What's your name, foolish mayor?"

"It's... It's Clove..." The mayor cried.

"Well then, Mayor Clove." Sancho said, letting Clove down from his grip, Clove landed flat on his ass.

"I, Sancho Graham, Nobleman of Shinra Kingdom in the Grandline, and Captain of the Golden Fleece Pirates, promise to protect your townsfolk from any and all harm. If a pirate as much as touches a hair on your head, I will personally kill them." He vowed, extending his hand to Clove, to help him back up from the ground. "R-Really?! Y-You're gonna stay?" He asked, in shock.

Sancho shook his head. "No. We are going to Lefacti and putting an end to this, to make sure it never happens again."

"T-Thank you brave pirate!" Clove shouted, as the people all realized what had happened, and they all got smiles on their face. "T-They're really gonna protect us? Stop the pirates at Lefacti? C-Can they even do that?" Were all questions raised by the people, as Sancho walked away. "But till I do that. I need you guys to stand up for yourself. Never let anyone walk all over you. You have my protection, but you do not need it."

He said, walking towards the schooner and his two crewmates, casting off, heading towards Lefacti.

"... Was that a little too much bravado? Should I have just agreed?" He asked his two comrades with a grin on his face as they were off onto the open sea.

[RyoRyoRyoken]

With the Doom Pirates having beat a hasty retreat, the Golden Fleece were left with the pleading visage of prostrate commonfolk. In a way, it kind of made Samehana uncomfortable. Doubly so, since she was already feeling bad about having a man act as a missile to destroy property. Crossing her arms under her chest, the Golden Fleece's cook watched as Sancho worked his trademark "magic". He really had a thing for playing up the whole "dreaded pirate" deal, didn't he? Not like it didn't work or anything, but Samehana felt it could get a little over the top. Whether that was due to Samehana being the golden-haired captain's senior, or the fact that she and Hamel had been traveling with him for some time now was anyone's guess. Smirking at Sancho's declaration that they'd strike at the origins of Doom Pirates' operations, Samehana shook her head once the man was finally onboard the ship. "Ooh, Sanchie, you were sooo cooolll~." Samehana joked, wrapping her arms around one of Sancho's and pressing her chest up against him in a mock gesture of some kind of rabid fangirl before breaking away to wave at the island's residents. "Sorry about the fruit stand~. I promise to make it up for you by kicking some pirate ass 'kay?" she called, flashing a peace sign and a wink at the gathered crowd. And with that, the crew set off towards Lefacti, goal firmly set in mind.

"I mean, maybe it was a little too theatrical, but I don't think I've ever known you to be that subtle." Samehana informed the captain, referring at least in part to his rather ostentatious style of dress. Not like she was one to talk or anything.

"I wonder what kind of operation these guys've got running over at this Lefacti place? From how those guys from earlier put it, it seems like they're a pretty big group. You figure we've got the muscle to deal with all of that?" On some level, Samehana's last question was more rhetorical than anything, considering her confidence in her own skills. And as sharp as the other two could often show themselves to be, it was always nice to know where their heads were as far as the nitty-gritty of a fight. That being said, a promise was a promise, right? No use dwelling over it too much until they were actually on the island.

[Pacifista]

---

As the evening sun threatened to disappear and cast the island into darkness, Lefacti still bustled, as a new night arrived. The towers of wooden structures arcing and blocking into the endless distance. Candle and lamplight poked out of many windows and alleys. Yelling from rancorous drinking carried over crashes from fights. Below while the high points had filthy chimney sweeps and window wipes preforming their last duties for the day before the highest powers would climb their towers to count the day's gains.

As the little rowboat that would change the world came up to one of the many docksides, Hamel noted, "Neat." As they pulled up to stop, however, the seemed to immediately garner more than a few eyes, bodies of docklurkers facing them, body language aching for a fight.

Hamel giggled, "I kinda like this place. Seems like fun."