Tense Encounter [Episode]

The ship rocked in the cold ocean breeze, a sure sign that the Blue Rose Pirates were coming up on a winter island. The island in this area of the grand line was known as Drum Island, an island revered for its doctors and the kingdoms name otherwise know as the Sakura kingdom being out of the ordinary. "Oy, where's my ribs guys." Shouted a woman who seemed to be lazying about on the upper decks. "Almost ready captain." Said a young man who looked like nothing more than the average sailor. "Did I stutter?" Retorted the woman as a single blue eye glared over at the man who immediately fainted out of fear, no one ever lived after getting a glare from the captain. This captain was none other than the newly promoted Shichibukai, Cobalt Stelle. Here in the waters around Drum, a hunting ground had been staged for a fledgling group of pirates known as the mole pirates, the group had been terrorizing the waters of drum for a fair amount of time and Cobalt was here to end their reign of terror. No one really understood why she always targeted pirates who were causing problems, it was generally the Navy's job to do so and Cobalt wasn't exactly known for her compassion, however this time Cobalt was hoping they lasted much longer than the last.

"LAND HO!" Shouted another member of the crew from the crows nest as the Drum Island came into view. "OY I STILL DON'T HAVE MY RIBS! I WANNA EAT BEFORE WE MAKE LANDFALL!" Cobalt screamed at the rest of her crew as the cook scrambled out of the cabin with a tray of ribs in hand. "H-Here you go captain, just as you like them." Said the man biting his tongue. "Next time make them faster or I will gut you myself." She threatened taking one of the ribs from the platter and cleaning all the meat off of it. "Prepare to make landfall, I'm getting bored." She grumbled as she continued to eat her food while the rest of the crew scurried around preparing to set foot on the snow covered island.

The cold breeze blew in the quiet streets of Bighorn, a small town of Drum Island, located near the island’s famous Drum Rockies.  A few people could be seen moving about, preparing supplies and loading them on crates, so as to transfer them to Sakura Kingdom’s main castle by means of ropeways. There were only a few shops and taverns in the town as its population wasn’t that high and they rarely had tourists.

Within a small, cozy tavern, a white-haired young man sat on the bar bench, waiting for his food to be prepared. The tavern was reasonably clean and tidy, with a respectable amount of customers. A bright orange fire burned in the fireplace, providing a comfortable refuge from the cold and snow of the winter island. 

“Hey, old man! How much longer is it gonna be? I’ve got important business to attend to you know!”  with a smile on his face, the young man raised and drank from his glass. “Phew, I’ve gotta hand it to you, though, this whiskey’s great! Bring me a bottle!” “Food should be ready any minute now” replied the old bartender grabbing a bottle and bringing it to his rambunctious customer. Taking a seat next to the youngster he inquired “So, what sort of ‘important business’ brings you to our lovely island?” Sharply, the blonde man retorted “None of yours”, assuming a serious expression.

After a very short moment of silence, however, the young man burst out laughing. “Just kidding just kidding! Hahahaha… Honestly, though, that’s classified information, sorry. I can assure you it's preeetty important, though.” Taken aback by this customer’s odd behavior, the bartender took a bit took a few seconds to recover. “Well, as long as you’re not looking to start any trouble, I don’t really care. We’ve got enough trouble with those damn pirates already…” 

A sudden shout from the kitchen interrupted the old man’s train of thought, “Ah! Your food must be ready; I’ll go get it now”
As the old man disappeared into the kitchen, the young revolutionary kept on drinking and eagerly awaiting his food, the smile never leaving his face.

Cobalt looked down at the terribly done boat job that her crew had supplied her, the boat itself was in disrepair which made her narrow her eye in shame. "You guys are worthless, bring us closer to the island." She demanded as the crew began to stumble over themselves in order to fulfill the captains orders. She observed the island as they drew near, she wasn't fond of the cold though she often didn't mind it either. Going over the targets in her head once again she reminded herself with what most people believed to be their main force, the captain of the Mole Pirates, a stocky blind man known for consuming the Mole Mole Fruit. Her other concern was the vice captain who seemed to be a big question mark in terms of ability and strength, the only real information was that many went missing when fighting him only for their bodies to be found buried in a mass shallow grave. "Captain we have brought the ship as close to the island as possible." Cobalt turned her gaze to the messenger who brought her the news. "Good now go for a swim." She said forcing the man overboard followed by the audible splash of him hitting the water. The entire crew looked overboard to see what happened to the man as an icecube bobbed up to the surface with the man inside. "Right, one boat wont be nearly enough." Cobalt said cracking her knuckles causing her entire crew to start climbing over each other in fear. Five more splashes were heard as five more crew bobbed back to the surface as icecubes. "All right the rest of you, we're on our way to Drum island." She announced forcing her entire crew to start rowing the ice cubes to shore.

Devouring the scrumptious meal in front of him, Eva only momentarily paused to breathe and guzzle down his whiskey, often forgoing the first for the sake of the latter. From the way he ate, one could not describe him as a person. No person could eat so ferociously… so inhumanly. No. This thing was no man, it was a beast. A wild beast wearing the skin of a man. It really was awe-inspiring. While such thoughts surely passed through the minds of everyone in the tavern, the young man once more addressed the old bartender, in between bites. “This is quite good you know! I think I’ll have another one. Oh! And another bottle while you’re at it, this one’s almost empty.” The bartender nodded and quietly went into the kitchen to pass on the order, wondering what manner of creature had wandered into his tavern.
 
A few minutes later, the plate was clean and one bottle of whiskey empty, completely drained of its contents. With a new bottle in hand, the stark-haired man inquired as to when the food would be ready “He- hey hey! Ish the food almost ready? I’m gonna loshe my appetite maaan. Hurry it uuup! *hic*” Shaking his head the old man “Aye aye, I’ll tell the food to get cooked faster, don’t worry.”, to which the inebriated man replied “That’sh the shpirit! Get cooked faster, food! Hahaha! By the- by the way, what- what’s your name old-man? I- I’m Ewa Mazthino *hic*” Rubbing his forehead the old man introduced himself after a long sigh, “Nice to meet you… Ewa? I’m Dave, the owner and bartender of this here fine establishment.” Gulping down what was left in the bottle, the revolutionary paused for a second, burped and continued, slurring more heavily than before. “Daaave! You’re a good guy Daveee! Y-you mentioned shomething about pi-piratesh? They been messhing with you? Th-they been messhing with my man big-D? I’mma fuck ‘em up if they have D, just say the word, you know I got your back dawg. Bunch o’ no good bashtardsh… Where they at huh? I’mma go there right now and teach ‘em a lesshon for messing with my boy!”
 
His loud voice attracted the attention of other customers, most of which simply laughed dismissively, shaking their heads. Dave too shook his head, and with a soft smile responded “Thanks for the offer Ewa but I wouldn’t want you to hurt yourself. These Mole pirates are quite formidable, a single man confronting them would be suicidal. We’ll find a way to deal with them like we always have, don’t worry yourself about it, just enjoy your food. Your next plate should be ready any minute now too.” Signalling for a waiter to go check on the food, Dave sighed again, pondering whether their country could really fight those damn pirates and win, without significant casualties. Interrupting his train of thought, however, the young man complained, this time with clear words, “Formidable? Don’t make me laugh! It needs to be at least a thousand versus one for it to be interesting. Babies like that who waste their time pillaging helpless villages, thinking they’re big shots in Paradise are barely worth swatting like flies.” Dave couldn’t hide his shock at this sudden change in attitude, and with his mouth agape, wondered what the hell had just happened. How could this be the same man as before? It couldn’t be! His shock only lasted for a brief moment, though, as did serious man before him. As soon as the food arrived, the young man dived straight in, once again appearing as a wild beast. The old bartender scratched his head, shrugged his shoulders and moved back behind the counter, dismissing what had just occurred as a mystery of the universe.

Cobalt looked over at her chilling crew, not a single one had been dressed for the weather why? She pondered as another one of Cobalt's makeshift boats bobbed at the shore, the previous ones sunk under the weight of the crew but she managed to make a new boat out of her crews coats. "You guys are pathetic, you should have dressed for the weather." She berated them. "But you took all out cold weather clothing captain." One of them complained as Cobalt took off her coat only to reveal another coat making them all stare with eyes bulging. "I always wear a coat under my coat in these situations, I can never rely on just one of them." She explained causing her entire crew to fall over. "Now lets go, I'm hungry for more ribs." She ordered as she started to march off towards a nearby town.

Everyone in the town was whispering to each other as Cobalt lead her crew through the main street, most of which had cleared off to make room for the Shichibukai. In a nearby cookhouse a man burst through the door huffing and puffing. "There's... There's a Shichbukai in town." He blurted out as Cobalt continued marching up to said cookhouse. "Oy, you're in the way." She whispered behind him sending shivers up his spine as he quickly ran to cower somewhere else. Cobalt didn't look all that intimidating, in fact she looked more like she was just unimpressed. "I want some ribs on the double." She barked as she marched her crew into the building to which they promptly all huddled around the fireplace to warm themselves up.