Pacifista

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

"We just need to find out where it is and get it. Though if we stick around we might want masks..."

Macario stood. Lina gasped, "Hey! What are you doing?"

Waving dismissively, Macario insisted, "I don't want anything to do with this. I'm just going back to the ship."

Lina harrumphed, "Fine, be that way!" As Macario headed off, Lina let out a sigh, "Well, we can manage without him..." Looking back over to the grounds, an eyebrow raised as she saw a troop of what appeared to be soldiers, but they didn't have the insignia of the Antler Kingdom on their armor. "Those guys again? ...Maybe they know something."

Standing properly, she suggested, "I'm going to see if I can find out anything." Heading down from their lookout point, Lina dared mull about the tasting ground.

"The contest isn't for a few hours, young lady."

Tensing up, Lina didn't except to be singled out so easily. Turning, a caped knight had approached her, Lina's eyes flashing in recognition at the elblem on his chest of a helm on a shield with a rapier. As he got a closer look, he tossed his medium length platinum blond hair over his shoulder, "Oh, excuse me. You are a proper lady, miss..."

"Er, I'm...L...ina."

Bowing slightly, he began, "It is my pleasure, Miss Lina. I am Sir Johannes von Reunthal of the Balder Kingdom, situated in the Grand Line."

Blinking, Lina said, "Er, what brings you here then? The festival?"

"One could say that. You look like a well meaning soul." Lina felt sweat bead on her forehead. "You haven't seen color coded thugs wandering about?"

"Th-the Companies!?"

Johannes' eyes widened, before his hand came to his chin, suspicious. Raising her hands, Lina explained, "Er, I've...run into a few of them. I'm...part of a shipping company, so we travel a lot. They're everywhere."

Johannes nodded. "Truly they are a blight. But what do you know of their engagements here?"

Swallowing, she said, "W-well, I haven't seen any of them here..."

Studying her, Johannes said, "Well, if you come across something, let me know. They always increase their activity here this time of year, and sightings imply that their top brass might be about, so if you alert me, we can bring those scoundrels to justice." Boldly, he brought his fist down on his breastplate, making a clanking noise.

Lina began to head off. "Don't find me, I'll find you!" Scuffling away, she ducked from sight, refusing to glance back. His eyes bored so deep into her pirate soul, didn't they!?

...Wait, she'd been a pirate for all of a week or two. What was she saying?

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

"Promises, huh..." Lina muttered to herself as she lounged on deck, the amusement from Chester's quick win over Marv already passed.

A lantern flaring in her head, she hopped up, calling, "What time is it?"

Looking to the sky, Macario estimated, "Bout 10 to 11, I'd say."

Lina nodded, before suggesting, "We should get going. Don't want to keep Boss Cerulean waiting. Or Chester." Glancing over to him, she noted, "I thought you'd be more pumped about this..."

"It's one on one though, so I guess we should just enjoy the festivities."

Lina gave a knowing smile. "I have a better idea."

---

"Stagio Island Wine Tasting Contest: 7 PM," read the sign.

Though it was still some time off, the contest ground, a small plaza on the more rustic Muntjacn Island, was abuzz with workers lining up chairs, cleaning wine glasses, and ordering bottles, labeled carefully behind closed doors. Scoping it out, Lina eyed the advertisement for the grand prize: the annual bottle of Four Color Wine, an expertly concocted wine made from four different colors of grapes, giving different flavors based the level of volume the drink came from in the bottle. An absolute master craft.

From their concealed spot, Lina turned back to Kuhn and Macario, concluding, "It'd be perfect to use to celebrate after Chester beats Cerulean, don't you think?"

Macario shrugged, "I'm not the biggest wine guy."

"Huh? We're going to steal it," Lina said casually. Macario gawked. "We're pirates!"

Macario sighed, "Speak for yourself."

Dragon Ball: Different Worlds

As her possessions were all safe and sound in her capsule case. Bringing out a cyan and blue (18) capsule, she popped it open, a small boat, striped white at the bottom under cyan, then blue for the top, appeared out of midair. As she pulled her dragon radar out giving it a look as, she moved foot to the first step of her vehicle, before turning back to Raditz, saying, "Well, I'm pretty sure the Dragon Ball is somewhere up that way...." She glanced over to the mountainous peaks and valleys beyond the cliff side the river ran down. "You gonna be okay?" She wondered aloud, eyes unable to shake themselves from that wiggling tail.

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

Mid bite, Macario grumbled, "If you have time to whine you have time to work."

"And booze in rice is the worst..." Lina began, before trailing off. Lowering her head in thought, resting her palm against her face, she muttered, "But...if I cooked rice in booze...no, that wouldn't work. Unless...it was rice wine. No, it would probably burn away, so maybe I should just add some with the water?"

Slowing down, she stopped herself, before turning back to the klaubertamann. She wondered, "Feeling better?"

He said nothing. But he also didn't say 'it hurts', despite the occasional pounding of hammers, so Lina took that as a good sign. But despite all the shenanigans, the crew was just back to normal as always.

As she watched the spirit, it began to fade, leaning away and falling back into the ship. It muttered softly, _{"Be...careful..."}

Lina let out a sigh, certain that it was more worried about itself. But for now, at least, they had the blessings, if not simply the indifference, of their host...

Dragon Ball: Different Worlds

Bloomer waved her hand. "It's just chemistry..."

Stepping off, she began to pack up her camp, returning it to capsule form. She added, "And this is just physics with a dash of quantum mechanics... Anyway, where are you even from? And where are you headed?"

Blinking, she stopped, mentioning, "By the way, my name is Bloomer."

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

As Chester made his decision, Lina finally pulled her hands away from Kuhn's firearm. Letting out a sigh, Macario said, "Well, I'll help in a second. Let me get some pants on..."

As he shuffled off, the hands and faces from the walls began to retract, but the Klaubertamann persisted, watching. Waiting.

---

As the sun crawled its way into the morning, peeking through the remaining holes in the ship's hull, Lina, now fully dressed, came down to the working men, plate full of fresh rice balls. Letting out a stiff yawn, she went over to the other side of the room, sitting down next to the Klaubertamann, who also sat, watching the work, sitting still like the dead.

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

The twilight was when Lefacti really began to stir. Day was the time of lazy legality, but night was when the spirits of scum and villainy were at their highest. Under all the imposing, wooden structure, some said Lefacti glowed brighter in the night than the day if you were walking down its streets.

And under that highest structure, a massive, underground cavern bustled despite its invisible ceiling. The ships within were those of Lefacti's elite, not often used beyond second hangout points for their owners. The biggest of them was a fair sized galleon, headpiece manned with bull horns as wide as some of the other ships in the harbor.

Laying across it, rag in hand, fingers straining to reach a far as possible, a boy relented, leaning back. He wore tan slacks and plain sandals over his feet, while his thin body was covered by a slightly baggy, long-sleeved black shirt, his skin pale, his hair a light brown. Rolling over to lay on the headpiece, he called, almost lethargically, "Hazel..."

His cyan hair kept getting in his face, dirtied with the tar he was spackling onto the ship, patching up any small chunks, his face had several spots on it from dirt and the tar, his clothes were tattered and really worn - his Shirt was ripped at the collar, a fresh bandage on his left arm. He wore black slacks and sandals, he hung from the headpiece with a rope, attached to the belt he was wearing. "Yeah Kas?" Hazel called, hanging from the underbelly of the ship.

Kaspard blinked, rolling over, looking down at Hazel, before noting, "Oh...you're actually working."

"Me, working? Dude! I drew on the ship, this puppy's gonna take in water like, well, a puppy in the ocean.." He shouted, "Dark." he mentioned to himself under his breath. The drawing he had made with the tar read BOYAJ - standing for "Blow it out your ass, John"

Kaspard let out a long sigh, rolling back over, eyes looking to the dark ceiling, muttering, "I should have figured, since you hadn't asked to sneak off for a break yet..."

"So much gloom, there. When do you think they're gonna be done with the meeting? I heard Jackobb talking about us heading out." Hazel asked, as he began climbing the rope that tied him to the ship, soon emerging next to Kaspard. "So, we gonna take a break?"

Kaspard suggested, "Just a quick one...if you insist."

"Cool, let's go get something to eat, I'm starving." Hazel said, wiping his face to get rid of the tar, forgetting that he had tar on his hand, getting it all over his cheek and forehead.

Kaspard blinked, wondering, "Are you trying to make it easier to sneak around or are you just stupid?"

Hazel blinked, then looking at his smudged hand. "Oh, yeah..." He mumbled, walking down onto the deck. He wiped the tar off his left hand with his right index finger, and with a sly-smile, he turned around and decided to wipe it off on Kaspard's face. "So we can sneak better, dude!" He shouted, as Kaspard tried to shake him off.

"Augh, stop! Jeez!" Kaspard pouted turning away, trying to get rid of it, but only succeeded in smearing it on his face and clothes. As he moved towards the cabins, he reached for the door, before it opened, a dark skinned hand poking through. Kaspard and Hzel froze as the much taller man poked through, black, spider-like hair poking out from a thick, red headband. A muddy colored coat hung from his slightly lanky body as his dark eyes stared down at the two. "Done already?" he growled, before his eyebrow twitched as he saw their faces. As Kaspard tried to hide his face, Jackobb's hand reached down, grabbing him by the hair and pulling so that he faced Jackobb proper. "This some kind of joke?"

"Hey!" Hazel shouted charging at him, throwing a punch at the first mate of his crew, only for Jackobb to catch him by the throat, pressing him up against the wall behind him, Hazel squirming to break free. "Let him go!" He shouted in between grunting and trying to kick at the larger pirates arm.

"Your the one's mocking me," Jackobb growled. Lifting the two of them up, he slammed them together, before tossing them aside like rats. Spreading out his arms and continuing his walk, he laughed, "Lucky I'm not the Captain: you wouldn't have been able to walk away." As he finished, more men began to file out from below, some of them chortling at Hazel and Kaspard's misfortune. As the two began to recompose themselves, a bigger figure stepped onto the deck.

The heavy thud of his leather boots with their ironed plating was heard over the entire ship, as the gigantic man - ten feet tall, looked over at the boys, the septum ring in his gruff face reflecting off of the light on the wall, his short black hair was dirtied, as it usually was. "Fuckin' kids pissing of Jackobb again." His voice boomed as he turned around, not paying them much mind. "We are heading out. Man your stations. Tell the cabin boys to go clean the kitchen."

"Cabin boys, go clean the kitchen," laughed a few of the crew members. Not having room to argue, Hazel and Kaspard headed through the door and under the deck. Hazel was massaging his throat. "Where you think we heading? Another raid so soon?" Hazel asked Kaspard, making his way into the kitchen - opening the fridge, getting out the lemonade and pouring a glass he slid to Kaspard, before pouring another for himself.

Eyes watching the glass, Kaspard's hand didn't move. Clenching his fist, he muttered, head downturned, "We need to clean..." Hazel scoffed. "This place will never clean. They're savages, Kaspard. One day this boat'll go down in flames, and it can't come fast enough." Hazel said, swigging his glass, eyeing Kaspard's glass. "You want that, or not?"

Shaking his head lightly, Kaspard turned towards the sink, before going to wash himself. Rinsing his face, trying to get that tar off, he stopped for a second, before wondering to himself, "...What kind of pirates are we?"

---

"Stay out of trouble, stay out of trouble..." Hamel quoted his Captain's words to himself.

Passing by tavern after run down shop after corner of seedy characters, he kept muttering to himself.

Blocking his path, a few large guys brandishing weapons stood in his way. "Who're you with, runt?"

Hamel whined, "I just got here...I don't want to get involved in anything within...an hour of us first getting here: that's way too contrived!"

They blinked looking at each other, before one of them snapped, "You freelance? Or do you have territory?"

Hamel stayed quiet, slipping his hands into his pockets. "Stay out of trouble...maybe."

Narrowing his eyes, one of them en lowered his hammer, pulling it back before trusting it at Hamel. He raised an eyebrow as it came to a dead stop in front of him, air being pushed aside slightly. Hamel stared blankly, and the man clicked his tongue, before pulling back ,the two men stomping off.

Hamel blinked, "What was that all about?" Looking around, no one even seemed to mind. "This place seemed more fun before..." he lamented.

---

Though it was already nightfall, it seemed to get darker to Hamel as he walked, the mazey town starting to get to him. Structures built upon structures support structures. It was an architectural nightmare. Yet while it seemed to go up forever, there were occasional gaps in the woodwork, but in one, he swore he could see a distant pinprick of light. Grabbing a passerby, he asked, "What's that?"

The potbellied cook shook his head. "You don't wanna go down there kid. Not a fun place."

Hamel chortled, "I have a different idea of fun."

As the cook's brow furrowed, a few gangly looking scrags laughed, "Just jump right down! A mug like you would be pretty popular in The Sunk."

Mind processing, Hamel laughed, "I always liked being popular." Kicking off, he jumped backwards into the blackness, cries of shock following him. Dank wind rushed by him before he crashed into something wooden a few stories below, smashing through. Regretting everything, he tumbled through splinter and slime as he tumbled into The Sunk: the murky pit, once a cavern, now collapsed into the ocean, the base damp with trapped brine...

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

_{"Just...leave...}

Grumbling, Lina grabbed Kuhn's gun, trying to force the line of sight away from the thing. "Kuhn don't shoot him!"

"Oh...no fucking way," Macario blurted. "I think that's a Klaubertamann!"

"Bless you."

"I know what I said! They're spirits that are said to visit crews in danger..."

"Well, he kinda looks like all the arms and stuff we're seeing, so he's the danger."

_{"I'm...the danger?"} he croaked.

Macario nodded. "I'm starting to get it... I think some how this Klaubertamann ate the Devil Fruit. The Flower Flower Fruit, if I had to guess."

"So how do we get rid of him?" Lina growled.

Macario shrugged. "Well, I'd assume that the ships they show up at get destroyed soon after, but maybe the Devil Fruit is what's keeping him going?" scratching his head, he muttered, "Well, he seems pretty displeased with us, but I don't think we can get rid of him without getting rid of the ship." Turning to Chester, he said, "Your call, Cap."

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

As echoes of the boat's screams came fro mthe fresh hole, Lina stooped down, covering her face in her hands. "Oh my god..." she groaned.

"My ship doesn't have room for four, assholes!" Macario cried, dropping down, thumping down on the lower deck. However, the hands and faces seemed to change mood: with Kuhn and Chester in the shipwright's room, previously hidden, the arms and faces seemed to be holding back, as if they were watching.

Stepping to the doorway, he saw the paper Chester was waving around. Snatching it, he grumbled, "What's this?"

"Pretty sure it's one of your dick drawings, dude."

"No, it's just paper with a mold stain, idiot." Flipping it over, he showed a twisted, spiral pattern. Looking over Chester and Kuhn, he glanced back to the faces and arms, before pushing in. Looking on the ground, he blinked. "Oh..."

In the corner of the small room, in the shadow of the desk, was a light lump, molded green, the fuzz on the wood marking out a spiral pattern.

"Correct me if I'm wrong: but that looks like it was a Devil Fruit."

_{"Stay out of there..."}

The hands seemed to shudder while the heads wheezed, pulling back, as the sounds of footsteps was heard, echoing off the walls. A form came out of the darkness.

Lina blinked at everyone staring at her. "What?"

_{"Stay out of...there..."} Came a soft voice from behind Lina. Turning, she squeaked in fright before joining Chester, Kuhn, and Macario in the crowded door frame. The faces and arms bowed way for what seemed like a small boy. A raincoat drapes his face, and a cracked hammer hung in his hands, but he had no distinct form: like a shade he was but one color, a murky black, as if smudged into existence. On his lacking face, he only had two blank holes for eyes and a deep frown. His rain boots shuffled to a stop.

_{"Stay out of...me..."}

Dragon Ball: Different Worlds

Rotating the Dragon Ball in her hands for a moment, she returned it to capsule form, before explaining, "Well, if you didn't get a good look, you can see both of the stars inside no matter what angle you're looking at it from, but it won't let any light through even the edges. It's also virtually indestructible...it doesn't really follow natural physics at all, really. I was just thinking that if you were from around here you might have seen another, since it should be close by."

Finishing her soup, she went to rinse off the pot in the stream, before calling, "And if you want more I've got packets. It's just instant..." Bloomer let out a mild giggle as she noted, "I'm a scientist, not a cook."