Blackstripe

One Piece: The Romance of Blackfin (OPEN)

"Pffhahaha!" Siobhan herself was unable to keep herself from laughing at Kailani's question, not that she really made any effort to do so. It was easy to forget that these people apparently didn't have any confectioneries. She supposed without any crops to grow wheat in, they wouldn't even have cereal...much less flour to bake a cake with. "It's hard to explain if ya don't know what bread is."

Taking a moment to calm herself, the redhead's expression settled into a subtle smile. "The One Piece is the greatest treasure in the world. It's said whoever finds it shall will gain wealth, fame and power beyond their wildest dreams. They'll become the Pirate King..."

Broadening her arms above her head briefly as she explained, she continued to stare down at the shorter girl. "There's thousands...ten's of thousands of pirates like me searchin' for it. We've got a long adventure ahead of us, Kailani!"

A long, dangerous and no doubt amazing adventure!

---

The sun beat down against the pair of backs, the paler of the two thankfully wearing her brown long coat to protect her sensitive skin. Waist deep in water, Siobhan pushed the ship out to sea by herself while Kailani manned the helm. When she felt her feet leave the ocean floor, Siobhan was quick to pull herself back over the railing. Her pants and the bottom of her coat were wet, but she didn't really care about that right now.

"Right, that should do it!" Siobhan chirped, glancing to her first and currently only crew member. "Let's show this storm who's boss!"

One Piece: The Romance of Blackfin (OPEN)

Siobhan eased herself down into the water at the edge of the stone bath, sitting on the small ledge that jutted out there. Remaining silent, she offered the other girl her undivided attention while she answered her question in more detail than she was expecting. Hearing about Kailani's friend, her dream, and how it had all ultimately ended caused her lips to turn down into a slight frown. While their lives couldn't really be called similar, she could still relate to losing a friend while pursuing a mutual desire: freedom.

Everything she had witnessed since coming here also made a lot more sense now. The fact that those guys wanted to marry her, but also seemed to despise her, the disdain the other islanders had for her ship building...it was all because of what happened two years ago. To them it probably seemed like she didn't care about her friend's death, but Siobhan could tell it was just the opposite: Kailani wanted to achieve the dream they both shared.

There were precious few things in the world that she could respect more than that!

"An' you, come tomorrow!" Siobhan pointed out, offering her a gentle smile. Pushing off the edge at the completion of her story, the redhead settled into a rhythmic float in front of the other girl. "No matter what's happened in the past, what matters more than anythin' is what ya do in the present. Regrets an' fears are just like big ol' anchors makin' ya drown in your own despair. If you can throw em' off and keep reachin' for the sun, then you'll be able to smile no matter what life - or death - throws your way!"

Lifting a hand out of the water, she balled her fingers into a fist in the space between them, her gaze firmly locking with Kailani's as her lips stretched into a positively blinding grin. "That's how I've chosen to live my life, an' it's how I'm goin' to keep on livin' it. No matter what, I'm goin' to find the One Piece, and use it to destroy the world!"

Heroes Reborn - A DCAU Roleplay (Always open!)

October 27th, 11:48 AM
Hope Springs, West Virginia

"I'm tellin' you, pa," Jim Bob gestured frantically with his hands towards the depths of the great forest of Hope Springs, the morning sun filtered through the treetops above, "I done found me a Sasquatch!"

Pa Buford grunted in irritation as the younger man's screaming sent the nearby flock of ducks scattering prematurely in the wrong direction. Squeezing off several shots with his rifle, he only managed to down a couple due to their advanced range. "Damn it, Jim Bob, look what you done now, talkin' all crazy!"

Smacking his son over the head, the patriarch of the Masterson clan spat a wad of tobacco onto the lush foliage beneath him. "Er'body knows Sasquatch are extinct!"

Covering his head instinctively at the oncoming smack, Jim Bob nevertheless managed to protest. "But pa, I's seen him! He was a big green bug-lookin' motherfucker!"

"Ain't them Sasquatches supposed to be hairy?" Billy Joe interjected, using his duck call to try and lure another flock in. "Maybe you jus' seen one of them Zambos that been crawlin' on up outta the ground this past while?"

Pa Buford scoffed, squeezing off several more rounds with greater success, managing to down four ducks. "Ain't no zambos here, Billy Joe. They needsa graveyard to come up! Nah, this sounds like them stories I been hearin' of that 'Vine Stalker'."

Jim Bob and Billy Joe glanced at each other for a moment, before huddling in close to Pa Buford to echo him in unison, "Vine Stalker, Pa?"

"Yup. Kelly Su claims to have spotted him 'bout a couple months back attackin' some workers! Er'body been seein' lately," Pa explained, using the butt of his rifle to push himself up from his lounger. "Wun't sure I believed em', but then I seen pictures on that internets of it!"

Jim Bob's eyes seemed to light up at this, the youngest of the Masterson clan glancing over his shoulder as if expecting the terrible creature to be there. "W-what if was that Vine Stalker, pa? What're we gonna do?!"

"We's gonna gather the rest of our clan, boy, and we gonna bag ourselves a Bug Man!" Pa grinned, showing a mouth not-so-full of crooked and yellow teeth. "If'n we does, we's'll be famous TV stars!"

Billy Joe practically leaped out of his boots. "A TV star?! They gets all them pretty girls!"

"And big fancy houses and cars, too!" Jim Bob noted excitedly. "Let's do it, then, pa! Go rustle up the others, so I can show em' where he was!"

One Piece: The Romance of Blackfin (OPEN)

Siobhan smiled slightly when Kailani splashed water in her face, listening to her talk about her feelings towards this island where she had spent her entire life. She had mentioned someone named "Mella" dying, this person apparently being pretty important to her since it changed her outlook on things here. It was also apparently what made spear dude a backstabbing asshole? Or maybe that aspect of his personality was just natural.

Regardless, it was impossible for her gaze to not briefly trace the white remains of the scar on the other girl's stomach. It made her wonder what sort of dangers she'd faced in this place that they'd soon be leaving. The people here weren't all that strong, really. The spear guy was decent by Blue Sea standards, since he survived her breaking a stone sword over his head, but there were still stronger pirates lurking around these parts. Of that she was almost certain. If this place didn't have that storm to protect it, it'd probably have been conquered a long time ago.

Siobhan casually swam her way over to Kailani when the shorter girl dipped her legs in the water while jokingly - she hoped - musing about the taste of her fin. Smirking, the redhead reached her hands out to grasp those partially submerged calves from beneath the water and swiftly pulling her down into the bath with her.

"Best keep wonderin', then, cause I like my fin where she is!" She flashed a beaming grin. She then gently drifted backwards in the pool, subtle backstrokes carrying her away. She really just couldn't help wanting to know more. "...So who's Mella?"

One Piece: The Romance of Blackfin (OPEN)

Siobhan felt a bead of sweat run down the side of her face when the older woman brought up the subject of marriage again. Were they going to have to have a weird ceremony now before they let them go? "...I'll do it, if I can have wedding cake."

As those words left her mouth, a rather heavy growl similarly escaped her stomach. Placing a hand over her belly, the redhead sighed. She hadn't eaten anything since she left her fishing boat anchored on the other side. "No really, I'm starvin'. Since I won an' all, how about like...a feast to celebrate?"

Her eyes then shifted briefly over to Kailani. "...But no people."

---

Having eaten her fill of all the nuts, fruits and meats that the village had to offer, Siobhan had decided that she could stand to stay the night since it was getting dark. After all, it'd be much easier to build their ship the next day when the sun was up. Besides, this place wasn't so bad when everyone wasn't out to kill you!

"Phew!" Siobhan exhaled happily, her head popping up from the center of the stone bath in the Chieftan's palace. Steam poured off the water that was being laboriously heated by the servants below who continued to feed the fire with more lumber. If the sea didn't call to her so strongly, she could get used to this! "Did ya really hate it here all that much, Kailani?"

Considering her own childhood, she actually felt pretty damn jealous of this girl. While she did understand not wanting to marry that knobber with the spear, and could definitely appreciate wanting to be free, this place was hardly a hellhole compared to most of the islands she'd been to in her life.

Well, aside from the whole "eating people" thing. That she wasn't about to get used to.

She'd already switched back to her human teeth at this point, and her jaw was slightly sore. It was always a pain to shift between them, and stressful on half-breeds like herself in particular. Still, she figured that she'd terrified these people enough without constantly looking like she was gonna rip their faces off.

One Piece: The Romance of Blackfin (OPEN)

"Well, I'm glad ya feel sorry," Siobhan replied to the large man that stepped before her, looking more like he was going to shat his pants than try and slit her throat. "Cause I would've blown ya away with a fart."

Her warning seemed to take hold, as he screamed thunderously and tossed his weapon at her, which she deftly caught. Holding it up close with a quirk of her brow, she noted that it seemed blunted. Were they designed to avoid hurting each other? Well, that was mighty sporting of them. A tough but friendly competition to determine who would take over the tribe...she could respect that.

CRINK

A spattering of white nuggets impacted the ground at Siobhan's feet as she suddenly whirled and bit down on the oncoming spear of the last remaining competitor. A flick of her tongue against the serrated edge confirmed that this thing wasn't nearly so friendly as the sword she'd been given.

"H-her teeth..." One of the spectators muttered. "She popped her human teeth out! She's showing her true demon form!!"

The crowd once again erupted in a panic, as they stared down at the jagged shark-like teeth that now gripped the man's spear point between them. Narrowing her eyes slightly, she forcefully bit down and shattered the spear. Spitting the stone chunks out onto the ground as she returned to her full height, Siobhan quickly noted that the well-built man stood nearly at eye level with her.

Briefly glancing down at the stone sword in her hand, she offered her fellow competitor a smile. "Oi, aren't we supposed to be usin' these yokes?"

Without awaiting his response, Siobhan immediately stepped forward to strike at him with the blunt weapon, bringing it straight across his face in a powerful slap before quickly bringing it back to give the opposite side the same treatment. Over and over and over again, until she finally brought it down over the crown of his head with enough force to smash it into pebbles.

"I mean, it's only sportin'!"

One Piece: The Romance of Blackfin (OPEN)

Siobhan folded her arms beneath her chest at the older woman continuing to call her "demon". It was a little irritating, but she didn't really care. They were leaving this place, so the opinion of this sagging old geehole was hardly going to ruin her day. Same went for the hundreds of others eyeballing her like she was gonna gobble them all up. Weren't they the ones that ate people anyhow? Pretty hypocritical.

Kailani was, of course, right. She could have just leaped her way out of the village...though she imagined they would just give chase. That would mean having to clobber all them at the beach while they were trying to rebuild The Striker. Besides, if she was honest with herself, she was never one to shy away from a good fight.

"Fine then," Siobhan grinned, turning to the assembled warriors of the arena. "If that's how it's to be, then come on! I'll slap ye into the middle of next week!"

With her acceptance, the older woman took Kailani's hand and lead her back to the stone platform overlooking the arena. The beating of drums heralded the resumption of the competition, the warriors once more readying their weapons as the spectators looked on in what appeared to be a mixture of anticipation and anxiety.

It was all pretty exciting, really. There were fifty rowdy men with their sights set firmly on her, and she wasn't even wearing her jean shorts! Cracking her gloved knuckles, she eagerly awaited the first one to make a move. As it turns out, it was more like a few dozen that initiated hostilities. Charging at her with their stone swords - What kinda weapon was that, even? - raised high, Siobhan drew a measured breath.

"Ganging up on me, eh?" She smirked, broadening her stance. Staring straight ahead at the onrush of her fellow competitors, Siobhan brought her fist forward in a punch that audibly snapped against the air, causing the grass at her feet to sway. And for the next several seconds, that was it. The spectators simply stared in confusion as the formerly charging warriors halted, as if pressed up against an invisible wall. A wall that was slowly forcing them back.

Exhaling as she lowered her fist, Siobhan closed her eyes. "Arabesque Brick Fist."

In that instant, their bodies were bent, twisted and ultimately sent flying backwards by imperceivable power of her attack. It was a technique designed for quickly dealing with large groups of weaker enemies. It involved transmitting the force of her strike through the water vapor in the air to release a powerful shockwave against any caught within its range.

For a moment all was silent as everyone looked on in shock. Then, their unconscious bodies hit the ground in a cascade of thuds.

Finally snapped out of their daze upon seeing so many of their proud warriors flung through the air like ragdolls, the spectators erupted in a chorus of horrified screams. Within the arena, those that hadn't joined the two dozen or so in their initial charge quickly threw down their swords and began fleeing the arena.

"S-she blew them away with her demon's magic! There's no weapon that can fight that!" One of them screeched, his fellows quickly echoing his sentiment with similar observations.

Placing a hand on her shoulder, she rolled her arm as she kept her eyes firmly on the competition. "I guess we can say we're in the finals now, eh?"

One Piece: The Romance of Blackfin (OPEN)

Halting her rampage momentarily at the sound of her name, Siobhan's face lit up in excitement. Her call had been heard, and now she knew where the other girl was. Crouching down low before any of the guards still capable of pursuing her could catch up, she used her powerful legs to launch herself into the air. Almost immediately spotting the large arena at the center of the village, her eyes quickly centered on the screaming Kailani.

"There ya are!!" Siobhan beamed an almost blinding grin at her, waving enthusiastically as she landed in the center of the arena with a resounding thud that blanketed the immediate area in a sizable cloud of dirt. Ignoring the choking protests of the hundreds of spectators, she rose to her full height with a crack of her neck.

Raising a hand to thumb over her shoulder, her eyes remained focused on the girl that would be her shipwright. "Righto, I'm here! Let's lose these knob jockeys and head back to the beach. Ship won't build herself!"

Seriously, this village was weird...and not in the fun way. Their constant to chants of "demon this" and "monster that" reminded her too much of the shit she had to put up with for being a half-breed...from both sides of the proverbial coin. At least Kailani herself didn't seem to share any of their crazy superstitions.

At least, she hoped not.

One Piece: The Romance of Blackfin (OPEN)

"Fuuuck," Siobhan grasped her head in frustration, the frequent cawing of strange birds doing little to ease her state of mind. She was now a fair ways into the jungle, and she was...well, lost. Surrounded by the roars of distant predators and the rustle of the trees and underbrush, it felt as if she could be attacked at any moment.

That wasn't the problem. That would actually be kind of fun, to fight some weird never-before-seen jungle monsters! Or it would be if she wasn't kind of in a hurry.

No, the problem was that her new friend had apparently just been kidnapped, and she didn't know where the fuck the other girl was! The trail she had been following at the beach had ended, and since she was no tracker that left her wandering blind. "Shite, let's see...they probably took her along a well-traveled path, so maybe look for trampled foliage..."

Resting a hand on a tree as she murmured to herself, she idly ran her fingertips across the segmented bark. At least the vegetarian was pretty similar. Just some good ol' bog standard jungle tree-

"Eh?" Siobhan blinked, feeling an odd groove in the tree and the sticky feeling of sap on her fingers. Glancing towards it, she instantly recognized the cut marks of a blade. Immediately taking a step back, the redhead's eyes darted between the adjacent trees, a broad grin slowly stretching across her face. "Clever girl...

---

BROOOM!

Siobhan smashed through a large hut, emerging onto another dirt road. This damn village was far too damn big for its own good!

"S-stop it! Stop the demon!!" One of the guards screamed, charging at the woman that towered over most of them.

Glancing over her shoulder at the man - looking to be middle aged at best - rushing her with with a spear, Siobhan casually sidestepped his thrust. Lashing out with her now gloved hand, she grasped him by the face and threw him into a group similarly aged men. Watching them crash to the ground together in a heap, she shook her head.

"Would ye just tell me where Kailani is, already?" Siobhan jabbed a finger towards the group in frustration. "I don't have time for this."

Grasping his face in pain, one of the guards leaned heavily on his spear as he staggered to his feet. "D-damn you, demon...! W-we'll never hand over the princess to the likes of you! We know you want to consume her soul, you damn monster!"

"Aw, whistle it up me arse," Siobhan flipped them off.

She'd made quite the scene in the village, so she'd be surprised if her friend wasn't aware of her yet. Jumping over that wooden wall that surrounded this place, she had since plowed through several buildings on her way through. Still, all she'd found thus far had been a bunch of pissed off old men brandishing spears and calling her a "demon".

Wank stains.

"KAILANI!!" Siobhan screamed as she continued her rampage through the settlement, smacking aside any guards that tried to get in her way. She made sure not to kill any of them, of course, just like she'd been told.

One Piece: The Romance of Blackfin (OPEN)

"Righto, good ol' brown jacket it is!" Siobhan chirped, having chosen her outfit. Her wetsuit had already been replaced in the metal case, allowing her to absorb the remaining water dampening her form. Saved a lot of space when you didn't have to worry about packing towels. Hopefully by the time she finished getting dressed, Kailani will have made some actual progress on that ship of hers...though she would be lying if she claimed she didn't want to explore this place.

It had, after all, been trapped within this storm for who knows how long. Isolated from the world like this, there was no telling all the amazing things she could see here! That was a pretty unique thought to have about an island in the Blues. Most were pretty mundane and dull, being in the "civilized" part of the world.

Ah well, there would be plenty of exploring to do once she got back to the Grand Line with a proper ship and crew behind her. Assembling that was the most important thing right now!

"Good," Siobhan fastened her belt with a smirk. "Guess I'd better go help with the construct-"

A scream.

It actually sounded more like a swear that was abruptly cut off.

More importantly, it sounded like Kailani.

"Feckin' eejit!" Siobhan cussed herself out, remembering that she was supposed to be keeping an eye on the other girl while she rebuilt her ship. Grinding her heel into the foliage beneath her, the redhead darted out of the brush where she had been changing. "Shiiiiite!"

It didn't take but a moment for her to get back to where the rebuilding effort had commenced, but...

"Kailani?" Siobhan called out, glancing about the abandoned pile of wood. There was no sign of her would-be shipwright anywhere.

No, wait.

"Tracks," she noted, kneeling down to inspect the footprints left in the sand. There were multiple sets, most too large to belong to the petite girl. Following their progress, it became clear that there was some sort of struggle. A pair of deep grooves in the sand indicated that Kailani was being dragged along against her will. "Heh, found ya!"

Now she just had to follow them and hopefully she'd find wherever they were taking her new crewmate.

If it was to that wedding, though, then they'd better have saved some cake for her.