A Surprise Assignments [Minion Island: Contestation Arc - Part 1]

Finally Yumiko managed to find some rope among all the discarded bottles and stained rags. Quietly she wondered how this filthy vessel even functioned like this... Pirates were sad and strange men. After checking the rope for any fraying, she had to accept it was good enough for the purpose. The prisoners probably wouldn’t struggle much anyway. Conveniently they had all gathered around the mast already. They put up no resistance as the Marine carefully circled around them. With a couple of quick tugs, the binding was tightened to completion. She watched the Captain Formerly Known as Alebeard sob inconsolably. Her hand hesitantly hovered over his bald head before brushing it gently. The crying stopped, replaced by a baffled stare. “Did... Did you just pat my head...?” She managed to only nod as the awkward silence grew between them. The code had not prepared her for this.

With the prisoners tied up and consoled, the swordswoman hurriedly sought to shift her attention onto, well, literally anything else. Oh hey, there were still foes remaining. Yes, much better. She squinted, trying to see... To feel... How the battle was progressing. Captain was very much leading the dance between him and the fishman, as expected. Likewise, Sir Nobunaga was taking his fabulous foe to a... what was the term she had heard in the barracks... ballroom blitz? Local sayings were so very strange. She shook her head, brushing the idle thought aside. Not only was assistance unnecessary, but interfering with their battles would’ve been dishonorable as well.

Yet simply standing around and doing nothing felt... sickening.

Yumiko’s cold stare focused on the remaining pirate vessel. Its cannons were still chipping away at their noble ship. Silently she stepped onto the bow of the conquered vessel. Brandishing her blade, she gathered her concentration and took aim. All the sounds around her fell silent. Only the ship remained clear in her vision. With a flurry of slashes she fired four blades of wind. Each resembled a curved claw slicing across the air. [HT][Weasel's Claws] One after another they clashed against the pirate vessel’s hull. Unfortunately, she lacked the raw, destructive power her captain possessed. The cuts just dissipated harmlessly, unable to even scratch the enemy ship. She sheathed her blade with a defeated sigh. One of the strongest moves in her arsenal... And it was nowhere near enough...

While most pirates aboard the battered ship scampered to get more ammo under the constant bombardment from the Marine vessel, some were feeling vengeful. A couple of the cannons turned towards lone swordswoman. Her fluttering sleeves and long hair made for a large enough target. One hardened man aimed a dramatic point and barked a single command. “FIRE!” A volley of cannonballs flew towards the woman. [LT] [UT] With a flash of steel, they split in two and passed her harmlessly. She sheathed her sword again, though most eyes hadn’t even seen her draw it. Ultimately, both sides accomplished absolutely nothing.

As the two sides glared at each other, the wind seemed to fall quiet. Waiting... The pirate vessel was the first to launch a new volley. [LT] The marine deftly danced between most of the shots, but one came straight at her. Acting on pure reflex, she slashed at it. [UT] Though she managed to deflect it, her arm trembled from the recoil. She could feel her bones creaking beneath the impact. Her glare narrowed as she returned her focus on the vessel furiously reloading its cannons. Attacking her was perfectly acceptable. Expected even. But how dare they try to sink the glorious Grand Steamer? This had to end... Now.

Yumiko let out a deep sigh, emptying her lungs and her mind. A deep breath filled her with clarity and focus. She leveled her sword horizontally and started spinning. Faster and faster... Until she resembled a blurry toy top twirling wildly. The winds around her picked up, forming a vortex. “Ha!” With a warrior’s cry, she unleashed all the momentum into a single swing of her sword. [HT][Weasel's Wrath] The vortex started moving, rapidly growing into a massive cyclone. It swallowed the remaining pirate vessel. Anything that wasn’t nailed down, including unfortunate crew members, got torn into the air. The sails were shredded asunder and the hull groaned under the strain. Little by little, the vessel sank beneath the violent waves.

The swordswoman sheathed her blade and the unnatural vortex dwindled away to nothing. As suddenly as it had appeared, it was gone. Taking another deep breath, she brought her hands around her lips like some pretend megaphone and... erm... Gave a situation report. “CAPTAIN! ALL ENEMY VESSELS HAVE BEEN SUBDUED! AWAITING ORDERS!” ...Sheesh, those were some lungs on her. Almost as loud as Nobunaga. Almost. Though granted, the favorable winds carried her voice far. True to her word, she would wait for further instructions. Unfortunately, both her captain and her superior officer were... a little bit busy at the moment.

Anton’s orders doubled as the declaration of victory. The pirates that hadn’t died were clinging to whatever scraps were still floating. They no longer posed any threat to the marines moving in to arrest them. However, surprises weren’t over quite yet. From the vessel Yumiko had conquered, something soon flew right at the Grand Steamer. It was too big and slow to be cannonfire. It kind of looked like... “EEEEEEEEEH! Ow! Oof! Gah! Ouch!” With a series of painful thuds a group of tied-up and screaming pirates slammed onto the deck, reminiscent of rotten apples falling from a tree. Luckily they were robust enough to survive the rough landing. In the background, a cabin boy excitedly declared that it was raining men, while another agreed with a resounding hallelujah. As for what caused the odd, localized weather pattern, well...

Approximately two minutes earlier...

A row of tied-up pirates had been arranged in a neat row in front of the marine swordswoman. Every single one of them knew what an execution line looked like... Those who weren’t busy sobbing tried to beg for mercy. However, Captain Alebeard stared at the swordswoman in utter disbelief. He wasn’t quite sure if he had understood the funny accent correctly. “Wait, you’re not gonna kill us?” She shook her head. “Nay. ‘Tis not mine right to decide thy judgement.” Not to mention she abhorred bloodshed.

Yumiko stepped over to Alebeard and drew her blade. “I shall bring thee to the captain. He holds the authority over thy fate.” The pirate captain cast a doubtful glance at the shining piece of steel. “Bring... how exactly...?” The swordswoman took a strange sideways stance. Her feet were about a shoulder-width apart, knees slightly bent, with both hands on the handle in front of her. “By launching thee with mine blade. I learned this art in a distant land.” She underlined her idea with a couple of practice swings. Those who had travelled the lands might recognize the motions as what the finer folk called... golf.

Alebeard was, understandably, less than excited about the idea. “Please no.” The marine did her best to alleviate any lingering concerns. “Fear not, for I shall use the flat side.” And failed miserably. As she slowly drew the blade back, the captain continued to protest. “That’s not really the issuEEEEEEEEEEEH!” With a swift whack and a mighty gust, the burly man was launched across the air. His raspy scream grew several octaves higher as he approached the unforgiving wooden deck below. The rest of the crew followed in quick succession, forming a less-than-tidy pile. Alive... But at what cost? Well, dignity and a couple of bruises, actually.

And thus we get back to the present moment...

Finally, Yumiko herself landed beside the pile of groaning pirates. The winds calmed down at last, as she dropped to a knee. “Master! Petty Officer Yumiko reporting as ordered!” Aside from a couple of scratches and bruises, she seemed relatively unharmed this time. Evidently she had learned something from her last defeat.

When Anton tried offering praise, Yumiko immediately bowed her head lower. “I am not worthy of thy kind words.” For those quietly wondering when she would stop being so harsh on herself, the answer was somewhere between ‘not anytime soon’ and ‘never’. She fell silent, waiting for the captain to finish giving out orders. Unfortunately, the moment was rudely interrupted. One pirate had missed the part where they lost. Yet as quickly as he appeared, he was launched back into the dark depths. Shock and surprise rippled across the deck. The tied-up pirates were suddenly very glad they had gotten arrested by the weirdo who talked funny.

Meanwhile, the aforementioned weirdo swordswoman relaxed her tense stance, allowing her hand finally to stray from the sword at her hip. Once again, she had been too slow... She had barely managed to grab her weapon before the violent encounter was already over. Her gaze swept across the deck, from where she was standing all the way over to the whining captain. Quietly she mused beneath her breath. “As expected of the Master.” ...Oh, not about the whining, no. She was simply... measuring the distance between them, judging it with her own eyes. To be able to discern one’s true strength at a glance was the mark of a great swordsman. ...Or so they said, anyway. In all honesty, she wasn’t quite sure what it meant. One thing she did know though...

Right now, the Captain seemed as distant as the stars in the sky...

Silently, like a sneaking weasel, the marine woman walked to her captain’s side. She took her usual position, constantly tailing three steps behind him. His whiny question went unanswered. A shadow did not speak. The rest of the crew, meanwhile, answered with action. They hurried to turn the ship towards their destination. Some quietly wondered if taking over a pirate infested island could be as easy as their captain was making it sound. Only one way to find out.