Pacifista

One Piece: A Golden Age, A Dark Age - The Boozehound Chronicles

As the goons came to encircle the pair, Lina hissed, "This isn't a good place to fight..."

Taking her weapon in both hands, she took a breath, before lunging at the first thug to come at her. While he had a blade of his own, he was caught off guard by the smaller girl, the blade piercing his shoulder. As he backed away, blood staining his coat, he grimaced at the minor wound. His bluster seemed to fall, and he backed up. The others were pretty hesitant to move in as well: despite her age, she was no slouch.

After a moment, one of them reached down, grabbing Chrome by his arm and dragging the lanky man along the floor. During the retreat, the wounded one cried, "Don't think you'll be getting off scot free on this one!"

Once they were gone, Lina sheathed her blade, and the two were met with a round of cheers from the crowd. A few comments could be made out. "I didn't know Chrome could fly like that!" "Told ya she wasn't just playing around with Reno..." "That about made my day..."

Blushing, Lina sheathed her sword before taking her drink. After taking a sip, she suggested, "Things could get a bit dicey...I hope Reno doesn't get too mad."

---

Across the way from the unfinished blue roofed building higher up on the island, a few Azure Company thugs went into its smaller twin. Going through the oriental styled sliding doors, they reached a room lit by the sun from an open window two figures surrounding a Go board. As each side studied the black and white beads, one of the mooks stepped closer, beginning, "Ma'am, we have an update on the situation with the sudden arrival."

Wrapped in a blue kimono, collar coated in white fluff, the meaty, middle aged woman puffed at her pipe for a moment, before saying, "He wasn't into the idea of joining up then?" As the mook shook his head, the woman took another puff of her pipe, proclaiming, "Cerulean isn't set to arrive for another week, and the festival is tomorrow. He hasn't started trouble on his own, but anyone at Chrome's level and above should be able to handle him, right?"

"Er, well..."

The woman sighed, before emptying her pipe out in a tray with a clack. Bringing a hand to her chubby cheek, she muttered, "What a handful. Chrome's one of the best we have. Just keep an eye on him, and if he gets in the way of our operations, let me know and we'll deal with him. If he just leaves then no skin off our nose. And if he decides to stay then I'd like to see him stand up to Cerulean."

Nodding, the mook took his leave. Left to her match, Lady Momo wasn't liking what she was hearing about this fellow, and the fact that he was getting along with those upstart kids surely wasn't a good sign.

---

After finishing their drinks (paid for by the patrons who'd enjoyed the show), Lina and Chester made their way out of the Raspberry Inn. "I should probably be getting home. But what are we going to do with you though? I can't imagine you staying on the island longer than the night. If you don't have the money for the inn though you can stay in our attic: Reno won't notice."

Passing that off, she looked over to a bit of visible ocean for a moment, before beginning, "I was wondering though...you have that ability to just do whatever you want whenever you want when you feel like it. Where does that come from?" Thinking back to the wine that Chester so easily chugged, Lina wondered, "Alcohol?"

One Piece: A Golden Age, A Dark Age - The Boozehound Chronicles

Lina grimaced. "More of them...they can't be the same ones though, right?" One of her hands moved to the hilt of her blade, which she'd moved to her lap as she sat down earlier.

Most of the six Azure Company guys began to mull about, one or two of them heading to the bar, but one clearly made for Chester and Lina. As he got close, he had a long black coat splayed over his shoulders. He was also rather tall: probably almost twice Lina's height, made worse by the fact that she was sitting. Uneven black hair poked out from under his hat, and he scratched at his bare chin with gloved hands as he looked over Chester.

Glancing over to Lina, he laughed, "What's with the nasty look, honey? Doesn't fit a sweet face like you. I don't want any trouble." Lifting up the sleeve of his suit coat, he chuckled, "Blue, see? The color of being chill. Probably."

Adjusting his collar, he looked back to Chester, asking, "You're the fella you laid Kin, Gin, and Seido out flat? I saw them: it wasn't pretty. Lucky for you, I'm a smart guy. Name's Chrome. What's say you lump up with us? Strength can get you far. Smarts even farther. What do you say? We've got a pretty good gig going on here."

Forcing herself up, sheathed blade in hand, straining to look up at Chrome, Lina bit her lip as she growled, "You...you're monopolizing our most important import! The neighboring islands won't even trade with us anymore, and you're just trickling down whatever you stole before then at a stupid price!"

Lina's anger silenced the inn, and a few grumbles of understanding from its patrons followed. Chrome merely shrugged, "So?" Backing up, arms spread wide, he laughed, "The Azure Company runs differently from our partners, but all the groups base their rules on how they think the world works. And in the Azure Company it's might that makes right! Back in the day, the Government had absolute power because they had the most might! Roger? Whitebeard? The Monks? Who cares! But now that no one group has full power, it's practically every island for themselves!"

Lina's hand shook, her hilt in her palm. Chrome looked over his shoulder to Chester, grinning, "What do you say? Sounds good, doesn't it?"

One Piece: Revolution(Closed)

"You okay, boss?"

Freya flopped down on her back as Jackal was being taken away, kept in chains. She sighed, "Look at this mess. Just looking at it makes me so...tired. We have one ship even close to seaworthy and even then its only barely...more importantly though there's all the casualties. And the wounded. We should probably get on that as soon as possible." Letting out a groan, she stood up, grunting as her side throbbed. That tail got her good...

Before she could get to work, however, it seemed the Sunny Molasses Pirates weren't done with yet. Johnny moved first, meeting the massive scythe midair. It wouldn't be enough though. Freya charged forwards, reading the lines of the scythe's path. It's sweeping arc made a clear danger zone swirling its way to the ship, the path marked by the inner side of the blade. As she caught a flash from Zepp's direction, she took a few steps to the side, turning as the scythe came to cut her rear. Blade met blade, but the one enshrouded by Haki won out, denting the iron of the blade. Her arms winced under the strike, but the two blows were still not quite enough to stop it.

One Piece: A Golden Age, A Dark Age - The Boozehound Chronicles

Lina's jaw dropped as the wad of cash plopped into her hand. As she stared, she mumbled, "I can't accept this..." Despite her protest, she stuffed it into her purse, noting, "Well, I'm going to have to pay for your booze and clothes anyway..."

Stepping through the crowd, Lina's path moved to the Raspberry Inn. Stepping in, Lina got a refill on her Melonberryade (the bartender was rather sympathetic after hearing of Lino's mishap), while Chester got his wine. As the two took a seat, Lina began, "So...you don't pillage anything, you still call yourself a pirate? Why? Or I guess...why even be a pirate?" Taking a sip of her drink, she wondered, "...Taxes?" Turning up her nose, she added, "Never mind. You don't look like you make a lot of money..."

One Piece: A Golden Age, A Dark Age - The Boozehound Chronicles

Lina and Suan dropped their collective jaws after the lightning fast brawl. After a moment, Lina quickly scooped the brick of sugar off the ground, handing it over to Suan, who quickly stashed it under his counter. Looking back down at the fallen thugs, she said, "Well, I'm not cleaning this up."

Face smug, she took her leave for a moment. A minute or two later, she returned, but not with other islanders: instead, it was another pair of mafia guys. Upon seeing the defeated lumps, one of them laughed, "Ha! They really did get wrecked." While they worked on shuffling away the mess, the other one seemed to be taking a strong note of Chester, but said nothing. Within another minute, they were gone.

Letting out a sigh of relief, Lina began, "The Azure Company are all scummy assholes, but they have a weird power structure. If you start something they might gang up on you, but if one of them does something on their own then it's up to them. He might come back at you, and if he can talk some of the others into it then it could be bad, but-"

"After that, he'll have you in his nightmares!" Suan laughed, slamming his palm on the counter in hysterics.

Lina frowned. "They're...basically in charge of the island. We're not close enough to any Government Kingdom or Four Seasons country to get any help." Going over to the counter Suan passed over the brick of sugar, whcih Lina held up briefly in triumph.

Then, another figure appeared in the doorway, though much smaller. Though she was also clearly distraught, as while her hands were full with three cups and a small skewer of meat and veggies, most of the drinks were half empty. Lino moaned, "I spilled the Melonberryade..."

Going over to her side, Lina took two of the cups, before realizing, "Oh, it's everywhere...How about this: you go home and eat your snack, then get cleaned. After that you can try to find us or play with another of your friends, but be sure to get home around dinner time! There'll be punch~" Lino stared for a moment, before spotting the brick of sugar. Not asking any further questions, she let out a giggle before heading off again.

Turning back to Chester, Lina offered, "It'll be easier to talk with just us." Glancing over, she saw Suan giving her a look. Lina sated firmly, "No."

"Gahahaha! Sorry lad!" Suan laughed.

One Piece: A Golden Age, A Dark Age - The Boozehound Chronicles

Lina seemed a bit down at the simple question, but she quickly recovered, beginning, "It's...not a good story. There was a bad pirate attack on the island about six years ago. We managed to fight them off, but there were a lot of casualties. You might not want to mention..."

Before she could continue a trio of blue suited guys walked in. While one of them immediately went for a rack of clothing, another saw Chester and Lina. Stepping over, the taller man began, "Hey, if it isn't Reno's sis!" Reaching into his suit, he pulled out a brick of something or other wrapped in some white paper. "Here you've two have been aching for this stuff!"

Lina glared, but said nothing. The man chuckled, "Come on, there's got to be a way you three can scrounge up the cash! What good is all that stupid youth for?"

Letting out a sigh, Lina muttered to herself, only barely audible to Chester over the blue mafia goon's amusement. "It must be nice, being a pirate..."

One Piece: Revolution(Closed)

<Snipped quote by Hillan>

Man, Luffy fought for like, a whole day on Marineford, and against CP9, before the time skip. Xerxes fighting style focuses on minimizing fatigue also, he will need days to rest, but he can still preform.

@LokiLeo789

You said he was almost out of energy in your last post, and you're also conveniently ignoring that Luffy had Iva's hormone help several times through Impel Down and Marineford. There's also no real narrative reason to keep the fight going: everyone else on the crew is down, Ira's cool with the jailbreak plot, and Xerxes has proven consistently helpless against a Logia type. All pulling out the stops has done is pissed John off. I don't get hiw dragging it out further is good for anything.

One Piece: Revolution(Closed)

Collab between me and @dragonmancer

"Ah hell," Freya grimaced as her ships main mast was raised above her. As it arced down, she threw herself to the side, but it was a close one. The mast slammed into the deck, rocking it once again. Freya lost her footing, bouncing on the deck, clutching on to her sword for dear life. Just as she began to find her footing, something else sent the boat rocking: a massive explosion from above.

---

Due to my massive and nearly collapsed form I remained stagnant over the rocking ship, wincing at the unforeseen explosion above me. I was determined to stay alive, or at the very least keep fighting until I knew whoever was left of my crew could get away. The mast I had used as a weapon broke in half, and I would hurdle the remaining half of the mast towards the captain. I would immediately follow up with newfound yet stubborn will power as I ran towards her, or rather, attempted to, I was very clearly limping yet my top heavy weight and my other leg powered through regardless. Flames spewing from my forge-like mouth as I drew closer.

---

Freya's men scampered about in panic, but the Captain still stood, clutching her head as the dragon bore down on her. "You're damn stubborn, aren't you? Freya grunted, trying to backtrack. The flames largely moved of their own volition, ebbing and flowing through wind and whatever they consume, so Freya was having a harder time perceiving them. As she continued to back up, she knew the edge of her ship had to come eventually. Between the mast and the open air, she didn't have a lot of room to maneuver.

Clicking her tongue, she really didn't have much choice. Hopping up, she kicked off the fallen mast, getting some much needed air as she hurtled towards the dragon, blade poised to strike.

---

Shear determination alone had its limits, the pain I was enduring was beyond my experience, I could feel my very life slip away with the blood leaking from the large wound in my leg, yet even still I had gone in too far to stop now. Watching her leaping up to strike me, I would hold up my arm, allowing my next limb to take the hit from the blade, upon contact I would wince, still shocked the blade can cut through my scales. However as the blade struck me I would, against the desire of my own body and pounding conscience of pain, flex my muscles to help lock her blade inside the wound. I would be grinning had the pain not be so intense. As the blade became trapped in my body my tail lunged out.

---

The line of the dragon's will reaching straight into Freya, as she held her blade in his flesh, she couldn't help but wince, an anxious smile creeping on her face as she muttered, "Sneaky littl-"

Jackal's tail snapped out, striking Freya in her side. Her grip wouldn't last this time, and her sword stayed lodged in the dragon's limb. Freya was launched across the deck, bouncing on the mast and landing roughly on the other side, luckily away from the flames.

---

For a moment I felt victorious as I was finally able to strike her, however the soon faded as I was reaching limits beyond what force I could make myself muster. My body by now had long given up on me, the only thing keeping me conscience was the thought of my crew's safety. The fight wasn't over, I could keep going, so I thought. I began to struggle, ripping the sword out of my wound before attempting to move over to her. However the longer I stayed conscience the more I began to feel sluggish and hell wash over me. It only took three steps before I collapsed on both knees, though more weight was shifted to my wounded leg. I would try to crawl, move at all or summon more flames in my wake, though this proved useless, and my inevitable defeat came to pass, as I collapsed fully unconscious onto the burning deck. My body would shrink back into a human form, the knight-like armor appeared unscathed yet the blood leaking from it suggested my wounds were still fresh.

---

Coughing, Freya took a moment to push herself to her feet. Not sensing any incoming danger, she took her time, shaking her head as she stood straight. Looking back to her opponent, however, he was down for the count.

Freya called, "Anyone who can stand get the last of those fires!" Her men moved, and in just a few minutes, the area around Jackal was quenched. As they worked, Freya surveyed the damage, and not the Conomi Islands, or at least this pocket, more closely resembled a hellscape.

Pulling out a cigarette, she walked over to Jackal, taking her sword off the ground and sheathing it, before taking a seat on the slightly charred deck underneath her. Lighting it one once last ember in the deck, she took a drag before noting to the fallen pirate, the wreckage around them, screams echoing from the nearby town, "What a good kid like you fighting with the people who'd do something like this?"

---

I would wince as I struggled to lift my head. Death or slumber, which ever it was unknown to me, yet still called my name in the back of my head, it wouldn't be long before I passed out completely. I barely heard her words, and I had trouble thinking of an answer. She was right, after all, the pirates I worked for weren't exactly the best of people. I suppose I joined out of desperation of continuing a dead legacy, or perhaps it was out of spite for what the marines had done to my birth parents. The screams of innocent lives dying in the distance seemed to shatter my previous reality and guilt filling my body with sin. I could only think of a few words to reply to the marine. "I am Jackal Ventmaw, of the Hellkite Pirates." I managed to speak before finally passing out.

---

As one of her men came up with the ship's lone pair of seastone shackles, Freya sighed, "I'll remember that..."

One Piece: A Golden Age, A Dark Age - The Boozehound Chronicles

A finger to her chin, Lina muttered, "Clothes...clothes...what can we do about clothes... Oh! There's clothing made of Melonberry skin. I hear they have a sweet smell to them."

"Huh!? Really!?" Lino gawked, have bewildered and half hopeful.

"No." Lino's pout intensified. Lina had a slight laugh at her expense, before pulling out a coin purse. Handing over a few coins, she said, "Go get us those drinks, okay? And a snack if you feel like it. I'll be at Suan's."

Lino nodded vigorously, potential glowing in her eyes as she scampered off. Leading the way, Lina noted, "Well, I am supposed to watch you. I'd rather you didn't smell like a drunk sea cucumber if I have to though."

Starting her walk, Lina took Chester out of the crowed area to a slightly less crowded one. The road was a bit wider, so that helped, but there were few preparations going on directly here: the closest was people ferrying goods or materials too and fro. The storefront, labeled Suan's, was a bit empty. The racks of colorful clothing were orderly, and a chubby man rested behind a counter, his feet propped up.

Seeing company, he sat up, smile wide as he said, "Oh, it's Lina! And...some fella?"

Lina smiled, "I'm just doing him a favor...would you be willing to take a rain check for some clothes?"

Suan thought for a moment, before standing, leaning over the counter and getting into Chester's face, one eye leering closer. Finally, he plopped back down, his chair groaning under his weight, before he grinned, "That's fine. I think I owe you and Reno one anyway for all your hard work."

Lina smiled before walking past some of the racks. When she and Chester were far enough away from the counter, she wondered aloud, "So, you're a pirate?"

One Piece: A Golden Age, A Dark Age - The Boozehound Chronicles

Lina giggled, "That's not even the half of it!" He mood soured as she noted, "I wish there was more I could do with just melonberries though. They're great on their own but the really come out with even just a little sugar..."

Looking back to Chester, she wondered, "But really, who are you?"

"That's what I want to know," came a harsher sounding voice. Stepping over, Lino lit up as the taller, dark eye young man stopped in between Chester and the two girls. His short, pale red hair was barely more than a centimeter long, and he had a black tank top and baggy shorts, his feet bare, and a pair of revolver pistols at his hip. Lino's mood seemed to fall as the guy kept his hard gaze on Chester.

Glancing down at the Fruit in his hand, he demanded, "Where did you steal that from, sea rat?"

Lino pouted, "He didn't steal it..."

Lina added, "And isn't 'sea rat' going a bit too-" Reno raised a hand to quiet her, and her voice fell immediately.

Reno looked over Chester, noting, "A beggar like you has no business here." Turning on his sisters, he added, "And you're too hospitable to strangers."

Lina was silent, but Lino cried, "He's only a little strange!"

Letting out a sigh, Reno looked over to Lina, insisted, "Watch him." Lina nodded, and Reno turned off, heading back into the town.

Lina let out a sigh, her gaze stuck downward for a few moments...