[IC] One Piece: The Devil's Due (Always Accepting!)

[Restalaan]

[ARC 2]

KUROZUMI HAKU

From afar, Haku wasted no time as he inched closer the ship. Avoiding all lines of sight that could’ve given him away.

Fingers found purchase in crevices of the rocks near the ship as he climbed down like a lizard, seemingly sticking to the surface as he edged closer.

All he was doing, was relying on his finger strength and balance to get him past this.

Slow breath came as he was now within jumping distance of the ship, with no one at the crow's nest.

He held his position like a statue, ignoring the slow-burning sensation as his body hung alongside the rocks and water droplets falling off him.

Motionless, still. Haku kept his breath steady, waiting for a single moment

Then it came, lightning struck across the skies, flashing everything and would’ve revealed himself if he had continued moving.

The moment it returned to darkness, Haku thigh muscles twitched and he leaped across to the ship like a tiger towards the ships mast.

In sync, thunderous noise roared following the lightning's path and echoed multiple times.

Because of that, no other pirates realized the smaller thudding noise on their main mast.

Using the momentum, Haku spun once and then twice as he let go, grabbing onto the riggings then quickly dropped down.
Everything happened in less than a few seconds, and he immediately got to work.

Making a knife hand, it blurred towards a pirate that was about to turned towards him and struck his neck. Right at the artillery to slowed the flow of oxygen. Transitioning to a sharp palm slap to the chin, it sent the force right to the brain and shut the consciousness down.

Arms shot forward and he hugged closely to the pirate, spun and laid him down on the ground in one smooth motion to prevent any noise despite the rain. No need to take the risk.

One down. Haku looked to the next target, moving like a ghost. Aiming to disable all of them before binding them.

Those on the top of the deck on watch, came to a weird realization as a precise blow struck on their neck. Severing their consciousness as they went into the deep embrace of sleep.

Once done on top, Haku looked around as he took a small knife, cut the rigging easily before using it to bind them.

A moment later, he moved towards the deck, and kicked the rudder chain off before moving inside.

—

Once inside, he approached more carefully despite the water dripping off him.

It wasn’t too unusual, but it wouldn’t last long.

Eyes scanned around as he forgo stealth and focused on speed by moving through the narrow passage quickly.

So far, it seemed the skeleton crew was all above and busy.

If luck holds, it’ll just be the hostage only. If not-

Hearing something at the edge of his ears, he moved quickly before reaching the door of the cargo hold.

Pressing his ears and extending his sense, the best he can do was feel that there was someone behind it.

No other choice then. Haku pushed the door slowly at first to prevent any sound. Fingers went to the throwing darts attached to his back and switched to the blunt side first

But once it was free, Haku flung it open in a burst of speed.

Eyes swung around the area and his main attention came to the only man standing in the hold.

Hands shot out as his throwing dart was aimed directly at the neck and Haku closed immediately. Aiming to incapacitate the pirate by tackling him to the ground. Hands already ready to throw another dart if needed.

[Pacifista]

CATHERINE CORIANDER

---

Lordian grit his teeth, the cries of his men audible above the winds. He himself had found his foot snagged in a grass woven snare not far from their boat. His caution had slowed his step, but he was not the only one running into trouble. While it had all the makings of a childish prank, it revealed one important fact: they’d been found. By who was the next question, and it wasn’t one Lordian had an answer for. They hadn’t even made it partway to the town: it was the Crumble Pirate’s biggest failure yet.

As Lordian pressed forward, the shouts subsided. “Men, on meh!” he cried several times against the wind, waiting for the follow up. Only one joined him, and the bearded man wasn’t one of his. Burnet moved forward, swinging his staff out. Lordian met it with his sword, the rain shuddering at the clash. Lordian balked, while Burnet remarked, “Oh, you must be the captain.”

Gritting his teeth, Lordian whipped a pistol out. Burnet twisted his arm, smacking the man in the wrist, weapon dropping from his grip. Lordian pulled back his weapon but Burnet stepped in, jabbing him with an elbow. Stumbling backwards, Lordian was doing all he could to gather his footing before Burnet stabbed his staff forward. He could feel a cracking sound throughout his body as some of his ribs went. He felt the ground leave him as he shot backwards, crashing into a tree. Weapons well out of reach, he tried to get up but his whole body roared against him. In seconds, Burnet had the butt of his quarterstaff against his throat. Scenes flashed through his mind. The flames, the screams, the blood; as his hometown, one not so different from this one, was destroyed. On a ship built from the remaining structures, they’d set out. They hadn’t gotten help when they needed it, so they elected never to help anyone but themselves. A snarled erupted from his throat. “We were onlehy tryin’ to live.”

Burnet rapped him on the head. He didn’t have anything to say back. He didn’t know the depths of the man’s pain he got a brief window into through his last expression before unconsciousness, he just knew that the people of this village were trying to do the very same thing.

---

Coriander only barely saw in through her tears, her attention grabbed when Horace yelled out in shot as a dart struck him in the neck. A flash struck him, tackling him to the ground. His sword clattered down, useless, while his other arm was trapped beneath his body. “Haku!” Coriander cried out, tears flowing.

“Bastard!” Horace cried out, mouth stretched as he pushed the word out with all his might, elongating it as long and loudly as possible. The men on deck stopped what they were doing, if not then they would right after when gunshots started to ring out. Horace had pulled the trigger on the gun stuck under his body, and blood spattered on the wood as a bullet tore through.

[Hillan]

Forged in fire, Part I

---

Morgan and Jack moved from the mansion to the mines, boarding the train to do so. The train ride had been most uneventful, only an hour on the mechanical beast as it spewed black smoke into the air, turning the coal into raw momentum. The train was almost empty, not a lot of people were traversing the island in the dead of night. As the train arrived, punctual as always, the two men embarked towards the mines.The air was thick with smog and in the distance one could hear the sound of the refineries that turned the excellent coal of the island into fuel for the factories. As well as the many workshops using the metals imported from the rest of the blue to create arms, tools and other useful items en masse. The factory district was at it’s core the single most important place on Sunstrider. Which made the shares Sunstone held in the mining companies, as well as the factories all the more important.

Leaving the station Morgan and Jack lit each up a smoke. Morgan opened his cigarette case, adorned by his family crest in gold,and picked out a handrolled cigarette which he pressed against his lips and lit with a flick of his thumb, his nail catching fire as discreetly as possible. Jack finished packing his pipe as he produced matches from his pocket, lighting it by rubbing it against his facial hair as he nursed the pipe before taking deep puffs of tobacco. The duo came across a couple of patrols of Striders as well as a small unit of Marines. 14 men in total between the two groups. They noticed a spat held between the two enforcement bodies about jurisdiction. They were out of Solstone so therefore the Baron had no stake in this match.

“THIS IS CLEARLY MARINE TERRITORY”

“LIKE HELL IT IS, BEAT COP. THIS IS OUR SOIL. STRIDER SOIL.”

“OH YEAH?! WHO YOU CALLING A COP, HUH?! WE’RE MARINES. SOLDIERS, GOD DAMNIT!”

“YEAH, SOLDIERS. THIS SURE AIN’T A WARZONE NOW IS IT, IDIOT. GO FETCH A BONE FOR YOUR WORLD GOVERNMENT MASTERS!”

“YOU WANT ME TO MAKE IT INTO A WARZONE, YOU LITTLE SUN-RASH PISSPOT?!”

As Morgan and Jack walked past, they could hear a brawl erupting behind the two units. The two had little love for either Marine or Strider so they ignored the on goings. However, if even the law enforcement stationed out here couldn’t keep peace between themselves, what hope would the opposing union miners have?

Arriving at the locale of the mine, a foreman noticed their approach and rushed at the two. He was a short and portly man with large cheeks and buck teeth. He was clad in a locomotive-driver's hat that was too big for him, the hat almost as tall as himself at roughly 4 feet, the hat drooping into a semi-circle, like a waxing moon, as he waddled up to the two men.

“Oi! Is it da Baron I spot?!” The man bellowed out and Morgan nodded

“If it ain’t my favorite foreman. How are you doing, Smokey?” The man shook his head
“Not good, not good at all lad. Mine’s a mess. The damn triad’s shut us down nice and proper, they have. Well, we shut ourselves down, but it’s because of their foul stenching tactics. They’re squeezing us for every penny we have. And I fear they’re setting up raiders to steal our shipments when they are supposed to leave the district.”

“That’s a… Stern alligation, Smokey.” Jack interjected. Smokey nodded in agreement as he continued pleading his case to the Baron and the former Ashbringer.

“Aye. But what else can one think when the damn trains heading to Sunstone get jacked, but the ones heading to the triad’s turf remain untouched? Six hijacks in two weeks. Our weekly production is down to a quarter of its normal amount. The stockpiles in our fine city will run empty in a week. We took to striking in order to enforce the triad to send guards onto all trains, as it’s their negotiated responsibility to secure the goods going in both directions, as per section 7B of the trade agreement and the most recent negotiations held two years ago. I have the paper here with me somewhere” He said, tapping the pockets of his overalls till he eventually found a paper, his soot-stained hands had left many prints all over the document.

“I know the paragraph well, Smokey. I wrote it.” Morgan confirmed as Smokey shook his head, coal falling out of his hat. “It gets worse, sir. There are men hired to fight our workers, beating up anyone who doesn’t get back to work. They come here every morning and beat the few our our men who show up, at this rate we won’t be able to return to production for weeks before our men have a chance to recover.”

“The triad is sending goons here?” Jack questioned, and Smokey nodded - and shook his head.

“Yes and no. They are pirates, who we are sure are affiliated with the Triad.”

Morgan rubbed his fingers over the bridge of his nose. This sure wasn’t gonna be fun.

[Restalaan]

[ARC 2]

KUROZUMI HAKU

Slamming into the man, Haku brought him down into the ground though that’s when things started to go wrong.

For one, he couldn’t get to silence the man in time so when the shout happened longer than expected, all pretense of stealth went out the window.

Second, despite his superior strength, the man struggles was enough that he couldn’t cowed it down.

Third, was the ringing sound and stinging pain in his left leg.

Hissing through clenched teeth, Haku raised his arms and slammed it down on the throat with a hammer blow. Hearing gurgled sounds, he rained more blows towards the temple of the pirate's head.

Switching around, Haku swiftly moved upwards until he was in the dominant position and finally, he reoriented himself and managed to land to a clean hit that knocked the pirates out.

The body slacked under him, prompting him to stop for a second as he waited for any signs that this was a fake out.

No, no time. Hake swiftly took the mans clothes and tied the arms together tightly, kicked away the sword and smoking pistol.

That’s when he finally looked down to his leg and the red stain formed into a line.

He forced his breathing to be level, and assess it with all the focus. It was bleeding but not deep enough, not any veins nor bones.

Perhaps it was the cold rainwater seeping in, but he shivered more than expected as he tore part of his sleeves and quickly bound the wound. Once done, Haku looked to the sides for the hostage.

“Cori-Are you okay?” He froze for a moment when he recognized who it was and muttered before silencing himself. No need for her to know who it was as he quickly untie her binding.

Haku certainly prayed and thank the heavens above that he decided to investigate the tracks closer. Otherwise, who knows what would’ve happened.

“We need to leave.” If the scream hadn’t alerted the pirates, the gunshot certainly did as he quickly armed himself with more throwing darts and a short knife in hand. He tested his legs and felt it flexed as he ignored the tinge of pain.

Moving forward and taking point, Haku glanced backwards often to check if Coriander was close to him.

This was truly going to be hard, as he prepared himself the moment one of the pirates came down. His hand blurred and a dart slammed into one of their temple head on, leaving them outcold.

He placed himself forward and knife ready to intercept anything, even bullets as his senses extended to the limit.

Haku charged forward and then tossed another few darts as more came in, distracting them or hitting them dead on.

A second later, he was in their ranks and taking them down swiftly.

One punch to disorient, and single slice to the tendons. Not deep enough to cripple permanently but enough for months of healing.

His leg sweeped to the sides, taking one off balance and using his shoulder to charged into them. Forcing the man into another and tumbling the two down as he snapped his foot to their chins.

Don’t stop the flow. He muttered to himself as he moved forward to the next, giving the enemy time to think allows them to regain the pace and overturn it.

So with that Haku continued fighting as he reached the top of the deck, rain splashing and pouring down incessantly that it was like a curtain of water.

He scanned around the place quickly for more threat, seeing if there are any others before motioning for Coriander to follow.

[Pacifista]

CATHERINE CORIANDER

---

Coriander cowered as Horace and Haku scuffled. She’d seen blood before, but it had never been quite like this. With every push and pull of the battle she watched with wide eyes, wincing and flinching as it wore on, until Haku dealt the final blows and disabled the pirate. Binding him before tending to his own wound, Coriander looked between the two, a mixture of relief and dread filling her as she heard footsteps on the ship deck above.

As she was unbound, Haku asked if she was alright, cutting off her name. She gave a nod, words struggling to come to through her lips intact. At first she wondered why he changed the way he addressed her, then she began to wonder why she’d assumed it was Haku. There weren’t many other Marines that she knew of with a similar size and build, and no one in the village was close to her age. Even putting that aside, she knew the answer. It was hope. She wanted to be rescued, and Haku, as distant as he could seem with his innocent misunderstandings and occasionally dodgy answers, was the only one she could think of who could come for her, not that she’d known why. Her hands trembled as they started to leave. She was dry, and the coat was enough for the bowels of the ship. Even though she was as safe as she’d been in the last while, she as still afraid. Holding her hands to try and stop their shaking, she tried to keep her emotions at bay too. She was blessed to have been saved, no matter who or how it happened.

But they weren’t out of the storm yet. As they got close to the exit, the last of the pirates jumped them. Haku dove into the fray while Coriander ducked away, finding cover. She dared not even watch, hoping to be overlooked lest she become a nuisance. A gunshot rang out, matched with the splintering of wood. Coriander let out a shriek. It had already left her mouth when she realized it was a sound she made. Her vision faded, but as the sounds of battle quelled, she came to realize she’d only curled up and shut her eyes tight. It took Haku(?)’s hand on her shoulder to even realize that much. Standing, she nodded as she joined him in their continued escape, rushing down the gangplank and going into the forest. It was some time after they left that Burnet and the Marines would move in, arresting every last one of the Crumble Pirates. Burnet may not have understood what took them out, but they seemed to have a pretty good idea.

The next few minutes were a blur of rain soaked branches and glints of light in the drops. The rushing winds exhausted Coriander by the time the two of them made it back to Tune Town, the town hall building in sight as the storm started to reach its crescendo, light and motion visible through the windows. Turning to her savior, Coriander opened her mouth to offer thanks, but as relief seeped through her, that which she’d been holding back rushed forth. Tears starting to flow, she began to sob, struggling to control herself. Wailing, the first words to come out were not the thanks she knew was necessary, but a cry of, “I was s-so scared! I thought I'd never see anyone ever again!” Horace’s words rang out again. Though they had not come to fruition, they still made her heart ache.