[Episode] Powder Vs. Steel

Quest Request:

~March 2
The waves crashed against the side of the Mini Nuke, as the snoring young man had the sunshine peak through to the sleeping quarter. Kyaime felt the sunshine hit his eyelids as the waves crashing kept pushing him back to sleep, the soothing rocking of the water kept him comfortable in his position. He sat up, yawning and stretching out his body. As he peered over the side of the ship, he noticed an island coming up on the horizon. "Huh. Didn't realize I was getting this close to another island..." He moaned as he began aiming towards the island.

As the hours crept by, the island got closer and closer, Kyaime made sure to safely place and hide his boat on the sand, hiding out of view of the village. Walking towards the village, he noticed the many dojos and different styles of buildings that he was not accustomed to. Many of the dojos had opened doors and one, in particular, caught the attention of Kyaime. Stopping to peer in, He saw two people fighting with swords in a different style than he had seen before. Typically he had just seen pirates fighting with a scimitar in a full offense flurry. The style he was watching was more of a defensive style. The amount of parry's and swords being flung away from each other, the clash of steel against steel kept Kyaime staring without noticing someone walking up to him.

The melodic whistling kept his stare as each person kept swinging back and forth, not wanting to give way to the other. The clinking metallic sound that kept lettings sparks come off the katanas was enthralling. "Welcome, My name is Aurri. You seem to be lost?" A swordsman caught Kyaime off guard by speaking. Unfortunately, his pride was something that had taken a hit when he was startled in such a way that he jumped, "HOLY Sh--... Sorry, I didn't notice ya. I just happen to be watching sir. I'm Kyaime!"

"You...you know your breath smells like a cannon?"
"Yeah... Um is there someone I can get a room here in the village?"

Kyaime had forgotten how bad his breath must smell to others. The smell wasn't something that was even in his brain anymore since it has just become a part of him. "Are you a good swordsman?? I want to get faster than you! Can I practice with you tomorrow?" The swordsman looked startled as if Kyaime had asked something forbidden. "You are quite straightforward. Have you no shame?"

"Sorry, but I'm in a bit of a rush. Maybe I'll gain some more respect for you when you show me you can fight like them!" Kyaime said, hoping to get under the skin of the swordsman. He pointed up to the dojo, where the swords had stopped clashing, only to find that the doors were already closed. "As a pirate, we gotta find a way to fight, I'm not the biggest guy so I want to be the fastest. I can already blow things up, but I don't just want to be a one-trick dog, ya know? Bahaha!" The man seemed unsettled by the request, yet he gave in. In the morning, he would allow him to "tag-along" in a sparring session, but the swordsman seemed to feel uncomfortable about it and kept looking towards the dojo, making sure no one was watching. Kyaime had missed the worry in the man's expressions as they continued planning for the sparring, being self-absorbed and unaware of his surroundings due to the excitement of gaining new strength. Kyaime had never found a room to stay at, so he made his way back to the beach, where the training would take place. It seemed the swordsman didn't want others in the village to know he was helping a pirate.

~March 3

Kyaime awoke to find Aurri stretching on the beach much earlier than Kyaime would like. The early sunrise was peeking over the horizon and Kyaime was still trying to pull his clothes onto his body very half-heartedly. "Have you already lost heart? I thought you pirates were supposed to be strong and always ready for a fight?"

Aurri seemed to know the buttons to press to make this pirate get on his feet, "OH, fine! LET'S GO!" Kyaime retorted much louder than he should have at this early stage of the morning. The time to fight was upon them and Aurri seemed warm and ready to go. Over the next hour, Kyaime would consistently let off explosions and yell expletives in anger as Aurri would dodge and quickly get out of the way of his attacks. The swordsman seemed on another level, why was there such a difference between them? Kyaime wasn't far from his home and already he had found someone who was beyond his capabilities. Luckily, Aurri seemed to have a soft spot for him. As hours passed, Kyaime seemed to learn the strategy of Aurri and caught him off guard by sticking his hand out as if to grab the sword and instead of setting off an explosion, broke the sword. Aurri let out a laugh, making Kyaime feel slightly uncomfortable. You aren't supposed to laugh when the only way you could win gets broken.

In the village, a ruckus had seemed to start. The news of a pirate working with a swordsman seemed to make everyone on guard, and it sounded like they were trying to find someone. A group of three individuals sat above the beach, keeping an eye on Kyaime and Aurri. "Keep an eye of him. Vik isn't going to like that Aurri is helping another pirate."

Swordsman(Aurri The Tiger):

WC 942/ 942/ 5000

A fire crackled on the beach as the two sat in their sweat as they enjoyed the warmth of the fish that Aurri caught. "So, you don't seem like a pirate." It was something that had caught Kyaime off guard.

"I'm alone right now, plus this island ain't got anything for me to take and make some berries on..." Kyaime stuttered out, his inexperience showing through as he tried to change his speaking to act as more of a pirate. Truth be told, he was still learning what pirate he needed to be. All he knew, is that he wanted to be the best pirate possible and make a lot of berries. Plus, if he could learn how to use his newfound powers, why wouldn't he keep working with someone who opened his schedule to him? Kyaime was unsure how to show Aurri his appreciation besides taking the lessons to heart.

"Aurri!" a voice came over a hill near the beach, "We called Vik. You need to stop helping pirates! Did you already forget what happened last time? He needs to leave!" Kyaime looked over to see three people running to the beach, angrily waving him away and trying to come and grab Aurri. They all seemed older and extremely annoyed and worried about what Aurri has been doing with him. Kyaime was unable to hear the conversation they were having as one of them came over and held him away from Aurri.

"What are y'all doing?! Leave him alone!" Kyaime yelled out. The man standing in front of him chuckled and reared his hand back. Kyaime noticed at the last second and pulled his head back. He pushed off the older-looking man and looked at Aurri.

"Well pirate, I guess you can decide now if you are going to be a pirate, or you're going to live a different life." Aurri said, pointing over the hill to a man in his forties, running down the hill with a sword in hand, which in hindsight is extremely unsafe. The man was wearing a wolf's pelt as armor and had long brown hair. His beard was white and brown and seemed to have no separation from his long hair. He was walking down the hill with determination in his eyes as if he had just seen his sworn nemesis. "That's Vik. He lost his son to a pirate raid from someone I trusted and looks like ---" Aurri tried to continue talking like one of the men clamped their hands over his mouth.

Kyaime felt sick in his stomach as the man ran down the hill towards him. It was now or never, use what he learned or take a sword through him. "Look man! Uh... Vik! Yeah, that was your name. I dunno who those pirates were, but I had no plans on doin anything here besides --"

"Be quiet scum! I will cut your worthless head off and ship it back to where you came from! Pirates are not to be trusted!" Vik shouted with bloodlust in his tone, no peace was to come. This was a deep distrust, which for pirates it makes sense. Kyaime needed to remember, he was no longer just a kid. If he wanted to go down this road, he knew there were obstacles, but thought he may get a crew before he wanted to get killed. Vik had made it to the beach, and Kyaime had to fight or run. With his training, he decided to take the first step and go for it.

Running forward towards Vik, he knew it was time to show that he was not afraid. He was already sweating due to the workout, but now with anger and a little fear, his sweat came profusely as he started using sweat storm, gathering as much sweat as he could. This person had no idea who Kyaime was, nor did he know that he was running right at a ticking time bomb, literally.

Vik:

WC
 661 / 1603 / 5000

COMBAT TRACKERS:

Kyaime Uses:
LT Bombs Away +25% RX Buff dur 2
LT Flash Bomb -25% RX Debuff  dur 2 (hit)
MT Unstabled Hands +50% Atk buff Dur 3
Ut on Vik (hit)

Vik Uses
LT on Kyaime (hit)
LT on Kyaime (hit)

COMBAT TRACKERS:

The member 'Kyaime' has done the following action : Dice Roll

---

#1 'Reflex Check' : 11, 2

--------------------------------

#2 'Reflex Check' : 15, 14

Kyaime ran forward without hesitation, his pride on the line. His thoughts went back to earlier, focusing on how he practiced with Aurri and how he learned to dodge the sword slices. As he got close, he let out a yell "Let's GO THEN" He let out explosions from his palms that sent him flying forward towards Vik. The way that Vik was caught off guard by explosions coming out of his body, helped fuel Kyaime's fire.

The explosions shoved him forward as the sweat from his body kept letting off more explosions to have him go even faster. As he got close, he paused and let some of the explosions off in front of him, trying to have Vik get caught off guard by stunning him with the explosions and smoke. He sent himself around and rubbed some of his sweat into his hands, gathering them up and having them get ready. As he came through the smoke, Vik was unable to dodge and took a punch straight onto his chin, having him stumble back a few steps before standing upright and slashing twice, landing two strong blows on Kyaime. One slice went across his chest, the second swung up his left arm.

He stood there, shocked at how quickly the pain set in even with all his adrenaline. Aurri never meant to kill him, but Vik is. This wasn't some surprise training, this was real. He could die. The panic and anger set in even more as his fear burst out of his body as if it was anger. The blood dripped over his clothing and stained the beach.

He had to make a quick attack and try to finish this, or else he needed to run. Fight or flight was set in and he had to decide with this next attack what was the smarter move. His adventure was not meant to end here, hell, it hadn't even truly started yet.

"You think this is some game?! We don't need people like you here. Scum of the Earth, I am protecting my family. I am protecting my dim-witted family! He doesn't need to have that pain again!" Vik shouted emotionally pointing towards Aurri. "I have had enough loss, I can't lose to you."

Kyaime looked over to Aurri, "What am I missing?!"

Aurri was being held back by another one of the swordsmen, "The last pirate we...I helped, decided to put himself upon our siste---" Vik interrupted him "Why are you telling him anything? He doesn't care! He is a pirate! Vik picked up his sword and swung again, he was not waiting for this discussion to finish.

WC

441 / 2044 / 5000

Kyaime
Dive Bomb Ht (Hit, critical)
Slip N Crack  LT  (Hit)
Spit bomb UT (hit)
Drop toggle

Vik (unconscious)
LT (Miss)
LT(hit)
UT (hit)
-----
Dive bomb
Slip n Crack
Spit bomb
used before Toggle drop, once toggle drop attack went down 20% and Def returned to normal.

COMBAT TRACKERS:

The member 'Kyaime' has done the following action : Dice Roll

---

#1 'Reflex Check' : 20, 14, 4

--------------------------------

#2 'Reflex Check' : 2, 19, 10

Drip. Drip. Drip. The sound of blood falling from Kyaimes chest angered him. He felt as if he was never going to be able to have Vik understand that he was not like the other pirate. As Vik let his emotions take control and run towards Kyaime, time seemed to slow down. Kyaime felt his sweat dripping off his hands and started building up. He prepared for a counter-attack, yelling "VIK, YOU ASKED FOR THIS!" As he started letting off a barrage of explosions. One explosion from his feet as he jumped, throwing himself in the air. When he was above Vik, he started setting off explosions from his hands that started sending him skyrocketing down towards Vik's head. Kyaime tightened all his muscles and sent out an explosion of rage throughout his body.

The explosion left a hole in the beach, as he panted he noticed that Vik's sword had been sliced at him. The sword was in the sand near Kyaime. 'This guy...doesn't know when to give up...' Kyaime thought in his head.

"You...you're a devil fruit user... Can't even fight normal!? How pathetic you are pirate!" Vik shouted, emotional strain still in his voice. The devils and anger he continued to fight wouldn't leave. The pain and anguish kept returning with every slash, with every hit given and taken.

"Still going?" Kyaime cracked his neck, getting more sweat on his hands. He rushed forward as Vik stood up and retrieved his sword. The duel continued.

They ran towards each other, as Aurri stood in shock 40 feet away. The explosions that Kyaime had let off showed much more power and emotional strength than the training they did together. Where did that strength come from? Aurri could only sit and watch as two people fighting for their own honor, in their different respects.

Kyaime slid forward, taking a blow from Vik's sword as he slid. A cut down his back only angered him more. He let out an explosion under Vik, sending him flying in the air. Then he followed it up by spitting towards Vik and as the spit got close, setting off an explosion sending him closer to the water. The explosion sent Vik flying, crashing into the sand and sliding to the low tide of the shore. The water seemed to lightly push Vik's unconscious body further onshore as the swordsmen stood in silence as the person they thought would get revenge for the last pirates that talked to their family lay unconscious.

"Waddya doin' you, morons? You gonna let him go to sea?" Kyaime said, trying to mock the swordsmen out of their shocked state. He stood up straight in pride, hiding the pain he was in as the blood was dripping out of his body. The fight was over, but he felt weak. He couldn't show that weakness or one of the other swordsmen may try to continue the fight.

He looked over at Aurri, "Get your brother, let's talk. Maybe I can help." Kyaime knew he needed to start somewhere, he had to get known somehow and if getting some traction on this island would be able to have his name start showing up then that's what would have to happen. He isn't a hero, he isn't going to worry about breaking the law, and maybe that's what these brothers needed. Someone who could go out of his way without worrying about someone following him. Together, Aurri and the swordsmen got Vik and carried his unconscious and slightly blackened body to their Dojo. It was a pretty basic dojo, with lots of tatami mats and not many decorations. This family seems to be a slightly minimalist family, but Kyaime had a feeling that could also be due to the former pirate who broke their trust.

Aurri sat down with Kyaime, beginning to eat some food and assist with covering the slashes on his body. Kyaime had used some of his explosions to cauterize the wound within the time it took to walk up to the dojo. He started grabbing some of the rice and fish and scarfed them down. The smell of gunpowder was overwhelming as his mouth was open wide in between each bite, making the swordsmen all actively stay ten feet away from Kyaime. "You guys haven' been roun to may pepl with devl frut ave ya?" He tried to speak with food in his mouth, not sounding very coherent.

"They are rare enough here. We have had a few people come through with devil fruits, but it is still a shock when we come in this close of contact with a user. Especially with one so...actively destructive..." Aurri said, looking towards the beach that now had holes from the many explosions.

Kyaime looked away with a grin towards the beach, "You're family started it! I just finished it. By the way, would it be better if I asked you about this pirate? Or should I ask Vik when he wakes up?" His curiosity had started getting the best of him. Aurri starred over at his brother who at this point was snoring loudly laying on his stomach. Surely it was from the pain he was in. He sighed and slightly nodded. "What do you need to know about him?"

Kyaime recognized the pain in his voice, someone who had felt defeat. He tried looking around the Dojo for any family photos, to attempt to see a picture of their family. He couldn't see anything of the sort, no proof their sister was still around besides their words. "I guess let's start off with the easiest question... Did that pirate take your sister? Or where is she?" Aurri would not look Kyaime in the eye, the pain was easy to see, in both brothers.


WC  
964  /   3008  /  5000

Aurri seemed visibly uncomfortable as the question was asked. He looked over to his elder brother laying on the tatami mat and sighed. "Follow me, Vik wouldn't want me to talk to you about this." He stood up and went over, putting some blankets over his brother and letting out a small sigh. He waved for Kyaime to follow him and started walking out the door towards the neighboring house. The afternoon sun was high in the school being around two in the afternoon. Kyaime had to blink a few times to make sure he was seeing correctly, the fight took so much out of him. The day seemed to be dragging on, at least it wasn't boring. The grass surrounding the houses was well kept and the surrounding gardens were well-groomed.

Aurri opened the door to let Kyaime into his house. It was much smaller, two rooms. One bedroom area filled with tatami and another room for cooking. It was basic but seemed to fit Aurri's minimalist personality. The room had the same smell as the outside as if Aurri never closed his windows. Kyaime sat and prepared to listen, knowing that it wasn't time to pry but to let Aurri open up. It was odd, still no pictures of their family around. Aurri pulled out some ale and poured himself a glass, trying to allow his nerves to be relaxed as he turned and passed a glass to Kyaime, who took it gladly and started drinking. "Kyaime, my sister is no longer a part of our family. This island has many secrets, we know some within our family. I can not break my vow to tell you those, and we said the same thing to the other pirate, Captain Clay "Crab" Obsidian." Aurri seemed to shudder at the name. "My sister, Lena, also knew this information. The Crab took my sister to learn the secrets of our island. We haven't seen him come back, so I don't believe she has told him anything. My heart is not at ease while she is with him, it has been months of him being gone. I had trusted him, and he broke into my house." He motioned around.

Kyaime finally started noticing the little things that show it still hasn't been fully fixed. A broken window over in the kitchen, scratch marks all along the walls, tatami mat that has recently been replaced, this small house was flipped upside down looking for something. "Look, I don't know what you're going through, but don't you have some of the world government here? Did you ask for their help?" He was genuinely worried about their family. As someone who was constantly worried about his family, Kyaime could only imagine how Aurri and Vik must have felt watching that unfold.

"I would have, but that is unfortunately why I said she is no longer in our family. If we were to go and tell this tale to the world government, or even a bounty hunter, it may put a bounty on her head. Lena went willingly, she wanted to go become a pirate. I'm not sure why. In all honesty, I'm not even sure at this point if Vik truly saw The Crab push himself upon her. I've always felt like I knew the Crab better than that. He seemed like he had a goal, and that goal didn't seem to be as lowly as curing his horniness." Aurri seemed to be battling some sort of emotional turmoil, his sense of trust towards the captain he had worked with still held up. "I watched her get on his ship, Vik felt too betrayed to see her off. She was smiling on the ship. She always talked about wanting to go see the world, but I think the way she left made it easy for Vik to blame pirates in general."

Kyaime stared out towards the water, he felt he understood how their sister must have felt. The love he had for sailing was recently acquired. "Look, Aurri. I understand how your sister must have felt, and I'm sure I know how your brother feels. lemme go see what I can find. Are they still here on this island? I know you won't come with me. If Vik had you leave with a pirate, who knows what would happen to him. Let me go find out for you, I'll go find Lena. Think of it as my way of paying for your training earlier.

Aurri seemed stunned by the offer Kyaime made, also slightly appealed. Finishing his cup, he placed his mug onto the counter. Turning towards Kyaime, he chuckled. Aurri grabbed a pillow and sat on the floor. "I think Vik would come after our heads if I left with you. As far as you finding my sister, I would have to pay you. It's my family and I need to make sure that she is safe. On top of that, I need to know that she hasn't let any of our secrets out to The Crab. He kept trying to have me talk, and I'm worried that he wanted to use her as leverage against us, or force the information out of her." Aurri seemed to have a situation playing out inside his head, he seemed lost in thought as he finished his sentence.

Kyaime felt himself sink back in his head, within the few seconds of silence between them, to when he decided to leave his island. The excitement he felt completely overshadowed his thoughts and he hadn't worried about how his family felt about him leaving. The next time he was going to see them, he wanted to be something for himself, not just a family baker. He coughed a little as the ale settled in his stomach, reminding him of his gunpowder breath. He let off a small burp and actively let it be a small explosion within his mouth. It was loud enough that he visibly saw Aurri jump out of his train of thought. They both felt the mood lighten a bit with that exchange. "Look, if you think Le-Lena? yeah, Lena, is at all in danger, I can help. I don't want to owe you anything, but if you feel like you're going to owe me, feel free to pay me. This is something I can get your permission for or I ---"

In the middle of the sentence, footsteps were heard outside the house. Kyaime stopped what he was saying and turned towards the sliding door. It slid open and Vik stood there, extremely visibly angry. "What did you do to my brother?!" Vik burst in with his sword drawn, ready to have round two of the fight. His anger was on his sleeve, but when he saw alcohol and two cups, his anger turned to confusion. "I...What? I thought I heard an explosion?" Kyaime had a smirk come across his face, and he gathered some spit in his mouth and made another explosion. Smoke slithered out of his mouth as he laughed. "Vik, I only fought you cause you came at me. Aurri has my respect, I have no plans to hurt 'em."

Aurri stood up and grabbed another cup, pouring his elder brother a drink and handing it to him. Vik was uncomfortable, which made more sense now that Aurri let it be known what happened with their sister. "Vik, I let him know what happened to Lena. I know you don't want to admit it, but she left. Kyaime was offering to go find her and make sure she was okay. Before I offer anything, I guess I should run it by you, since you tried to kill him and all." Aurri apparently knew how to get under Vik's skin, it was obvious they were brothers. Vik quickly downed his drink, letting out a big sigh of disappointment. "Fine. Since he beat me he can do what he wants. If he finds her," He turned his body and locked eyes with Kyaime, "He makes sure that stupid Crab knows that someone is watching his moves. We are going to hold you to this Kyaime. You beat me, You better be able to beat him if it comes to it."

Kyaime smirked, "Have some faith, I'm just getting started!" He said chugging the rest of his drink. His pride continued to grow as he had this conversation. His Devil Fruit powers finally started feeling like they were under his control. He still had a lot to learn and practice in order to further himself in the world, but he wasn't scared now. "So, where did Captain Crabby go?"

Vik quickly shook his head, stating that he was never around them and didn't even see their ship once. Aurri took a second and tried to think, "I believe it was Gecko Islands they went towards... Something about finding someone at Merry Mansion? Honestly, I was not paying much attention while they were talking about where they were planning on going. I was saying goodbye to my sister." Aurri went and grabbed a map, trying to follow the direction that he remember them sailing off, and verified that Captain Crab was heading in that direction.

"Well, I guess I know where I'm going next." Kyaime stood up and began saying goodbye, enjoying the company of Aurri and a still skeptical Vik. He went back and grabbed his items from the other house, it was almost four PM and he knew he needed to start off on the ship while there was still light in the sky, or he may get even farther behind the other pirates. As he was about to walk out of the house, he noticed Vik talking with some swordsmen at the gate of their dojo. He tried to overhear their talking, but only picked up a few words. "Pirate" "Destroyed" "Elders". Since it wasn't all at once, he felt relieved that he wasn't being set up as a murderer. Vik sent them on their way as Kyaime hid in the dojo. When he made his way back in, Vik seemed worried about Kyaime.

"Kyaime, when we fought some of your explosions blew up a tree that fell into a house...They are trying to find you." Kyaime felt his heart sink, he let himself go too much in the fight. He took a deep breath, "Well. I guess you need to act like you didn't know I was here..." He smiled, nodded his head, and quietly ran to Aurri's house. Letting them both know the plan, he said his goodbyes. "Time to say goodbye, like a pirate"

Kyaime started trying to make himself sweat, doing a quick push-up workout to get some sweat on his palms. He then ran out to the village square and yelled, "Remember my name! Kyaime Kasai!" He spit into the air, making 3 explosions in the air. He then pulled out a pistol, spit into the gun, and shot it into the air setting off one more explosion further in the air. Many villagers came out, frustrated, and started trying to get him. Using Smoke Bomb, he set off many explosions are the ground to get a dirt cloud surrounding him. Unfortunately, those who ran at him got caught and he accidentally hurt a few people. With the dirt cloud, he sent himself rushing forward toward the beach with Bombs Away. Rushing past Aurri and Vik, he winked as many people came running behind him.

As he made it to the beach, he saw the tree knocked over onto someone's house and he yelled, "Sorry bout the tree!" He felt his freedom was close and just kept running, using his momentum to shove Mini Nuke back into the water. As he safely pushed off into the sea, the group chasing him sat and threw rocks towards him. Kyaime seeing this as a fun time, put his hand into the water and set off an explosion sending him flying further into the sea, on his way to the next island in his path.


WC

2013 / 5021 / 5000