Doctor's Visit [Solo Episode]

quest:

"Understood." Greys acknowledged before hanging up the den-den mushi with a click. Greys stood from his desk, stretching his back before stepping to the door. Greys squinted as he opened the door of his quarters to the bright light of day out on deck. After letting his eye adjust, Greys ascended the steps to the helm where he approached his navigator. "We have a heading." He said to the navigator. "Boltree Island. Here are the coordinates." Greys said as he handed the navigator a piece of paper. The navigator nodded before stepping over to the helmsman.

Nathan then approached the railing looking over the men and women of his crew. Nathan crossed his arms behind his back, taking a breath and closing his eye. After exhaling and opening his eye, Nathan addressed his crew. "SAILORS!" he boomed. All hands stopped what they were doing, abruptly saluting with a resounding "AYE SIR!?" in response. "We've received an assignment from HQ. We are to sail to Boltree Island to provide medical aid to a town there. I've already given coordinates to the navigator." Nathan proclaimed. "Also..." Nathan's eye narrowed. " McSchmit, Conway, Waltin, Elfis, and Renning!" Nathan called. Several marines straightened up and saluted with a slight look of confusion and panic on their faces. "Aye sir?!" they asked in response. " I understand that today marks your first full year of service to this crew. Congratulations and thank you all for your service, with many more ahead of us." Nathan commended with a kind smile, as the crew gave a small round of applause, fist bumping and nudging the mentioned crew members. "Now," Nathan said narrowing his eye once more. "Let's make haste and step to!" He said with a salute. The crew saluted in response paired with an "Aye Sir!" before returning to their duties on deck.

Nathan walked back to his Navigator. "Let me know if anything comes up." He started. "I'll be in the library, looking into what we might be dealing with based on the symptoms HQ relayed to me." Nathan said. The navigator nodded in understanding. Nathan moved below deck to the library to look into what had been described to him over the den-den mushi.

A knock at the door pulled Nathan's attention away from the current book he was reading. "Come in." He said leaning back to see the door open. One of his sailors stood in the doorway, " The island is in sight sir. We will pull into port in short time." The sailor announced. Nathan leaned forward laying his elbows on the desk, lacing his fingers together. " Thank you for the update. I will be up soon."  The sailor saluted, and Nathan returned the salute before the sailor closed the door.

Nathan stood from the desk and inserted a mark into the open book on the desk before setting it atop a small stack on the corner of the desk. Nathan stretched his back after sitting for a while, leaning back and then twisting from side to side. Nathan exited the library and emerged onto the deck of the ship. On the horizon sat an island with a large tree on the top of a jungle covered mountain. Ahead was a bustling port town where they would dock.

The ship was alive with activity as sailors ran to and fro about the deck preparing to dock at the island. Sailors climbing the riggings and ropes of the ship, closing the sails. The helmsman turning the wheel to parallel the ship with the docks of the port. The men at the side signalling to the helmsman when they're where they need to be, before tossing the ropes down to the dock hands.

Once the ship had been tied up and docked, Nathan gave orders for the crew to get things ready for the visiting crew. Nathan and a couple crew members were going in town to find the town hall to ask where they were needed.

After asking for directions to the town hall, Nathan and the small party stepped through the fairly lively town, passing by booths with many manner of goods to sell. The stand owners shouting out their deals and bartering with those passing by. The yelling tended to briefly hush as Nathan and his marines passed through before resuming the previous volume. Past the market place, the paths became more twisty, weaving in and out of alley ways and corridors. Eventually Nathan and crew arrived at the town hall building that had been described to them.

Inside the building, the air was slightly dense with a hanging smoke. Ahead from the doorway was a desk with a pudgy woman sitting behind it squinting down through a small pair of reading glasses. Nathan approached the desk and the woman looked up from her papers. Lifting her glasses, she took a deep breath and monotonously asked "Can I help you?"  
    Nathan cleared his throat, " Yes, we're the Marine doctors responding to the distress call from this island."  Nathan finished. Then there was a brief pause before the woman spoke up again. "Oh... That. Lemme get you to the mayor." She said. " He's Down the hall to the right." She pointed.  "Just go down and knock." She instructed before returning her focus back to her paper.

Nathan approached the door that the woman had directed him to. Nathan took a breath before knocking.  Nathan waited a beat. Hearing nothing, Nathan knocked again. This time a muffled "Come in" filtered through the door. Nathan entered the door into a dark room to find a thin man with rather messy hair and huge bags under his eyes. This guy looked like he just woke up, and judging from the pillow on his desk, that seems exactly what happened. Nathan closed the door behind him. "Sir, I'm here from the Navy to respond to a distress call regarding a disease on this island." Nathan stated. The mayor seemed to perk up a bit, " Oh yes, that!" The mayor groggily said. "Yes, we sent out the call, however we're not the town that is in need of assistance." The mayor said tailing off his last word with a yawn. The mayor stood up and walked over to the window and pulling up the blind. The light flooded the office, highlighting the dust hanging in the air. The mayor motioned for Nathan to come and join him. Nathan obliged and approached the window. The mayor then pointed to a large tree on top of the mountain. " You see that tree, that's where the village you need to go to is."

Nathan gazed out the window at the large tree that the mayor had pointed out, squinting to filter out the light and focus on the tree. "Alright, then we'll get to that village at once." Nathan said. "Ahh, about that..." The mayor started. The mayor let go of the blind, darkening the room once more. " Unfortunately between here and there lies the Boltree Jungle. Which unless you have the knowledge of the path, you and whoever you take will end up lost and eventually dead. You'll need either a guide or to catch one of the caravans." The mayor said before taking a yawn. " The guide will allow you to take more of your men, but you'll need to carry all your stuff. The caravan, if there's one down at the moment, will allow you to take more stuff, but will require you to take less men, to keep the caravan at a reasonable size and pace." The mayor said sitting back down at his desk. "Your best bet for finding either a caravan leader or a guide will be at the local tavern." The mayor instructed, before letting out another yawn. "May speed be with you." The mayor said, setting his head back down onto his pillow.

Nathan exited the mayors office and rejoined the marines that had come with him to the town hall. Nathan signaled for the marines to follow him. Nathan tapped the den den mushi on his wrist. "Aye, sir!" One of his marine's voices spoke from the snail. " We have a brief and rigorous travel ahead of us. Prepare two convoys, one smaller, and one larger both with the best doctors we have." Nathan commanded. "Depending on what we can secure, we'll need one or the other. Get them ready, and I'll radio to let you know which we'll be taking with us. Understood?" Nathan finished. "Aye Sir!" the marine's voice said. Nathan hung up the transponder snail as he made his way towards the tavern the mayor mentioned.

Nathan swiftly opened the door of the tavern with a gloved hand and strode in stopping just past the door. The patrons of the establishment who weren't inebriated briefly paused to observe the new body in the room.  After scanning the bar, Nathan moved towards the bar and sat down at a stool. The barmaid, a petite and perky young woman with her wine colored hair pulled back, popped up from behind the counter. "Hmm, what can I get ya~?" She chimed. Nathan's eye focused on the girl. "Oh, I'm not here to consume." He said. " I need some information." He said. "Oh, I see." The barmaid said. "Serious business." She said teasingly with a pout on her face. "What did you need to--" She was cut off as Nathan quickly reached out a hand and pulled her head to the side with him as a bullet whizzed past shattering into one of the bottles behind the bar.

From behind, a voice blurted " You won't take the Red Face Pirates, you marine dog!" Nathan turned to see a group of men toting guns and swords directed at Nathan. Nathan took a breath. "Please, I wasn't here for you lot." He dismissed. "You overestimate yourselves if you thought I was here for you. You could have gone under the radar. Though since you insist on outing yourselves, I guess I'm now obligated to apprehend you." Nathan said. "Now... how will you go?" He asked. The apparent leader shallowly shook with both frustration and confusion. Eventually his eyes widened and gripped his gun. Nathan was already on him, directing his gun towards an empty wall as the shot tore through the wood. "I see!" Nathan said. Nathan squeezed the man's wrist until he dropped his gun. Nathan pushed the man back onto the ground and stared intimidatingly at the rest of the crew. "I don't fear you, your name, or your threats." Nathan growled before snapping his fingers. The couple marines rushed in, looking to Nathan. "Take these Pirates out of here." Nathan commanded. Nathan turned on his heel and gave his attention to the barmaid, who looked like she'd just seen a ghost. "Are you alright?" He asked. The purple haired barmaid slowly nodded her head. "Great. Go get some water and we'll talk about that  information."

After a few glasses of water and making sure that the young barmaid was alright, Nathan interviewed her on obtaining a means for travelling through the jungle. The barmaid gave Nathan a small list of names for both guides and caravan leaders, that Nathan proceeded to write down in a small notebook. After mentioning one of the names, one of the patrons stood up, "Oy! Nen Griket, You say?"  He announced before pausing to take a swig of his drink. "That'd be me!" He said muffling his words while wiping his face with his arm.  Nathan looked over to the man, He was quite large, somewhere between six and seven feet tall. He wore a floppy tan hat that covered a wrinkled middle-aged face. "Oh yeah, Nen is really experienced." The barmaid chimed. Nen stepped over to where the two were and sat down.

"What kind of a trip are we talking about?" Nen asked. Nathan cleared his throat. "We are trying to get as many of our doctors up to the village at the top of the hill, so we can research and provide aid for a disease troubling the town up there." Nathan stated. "Oh, I see." Nen said before taking a long sip from his bottle. "Alright, I can take you. But I'll warn you that there are many dangerous elements of that jungle path, Bandits who move through the trees swift as a breeze; and Beasts that can and will run men through with their enormous tusks." Nen warned. " We'll need a small group of no more than 15 people myself included. Gather the people you want to take and meet my by the Northern gate of this town tomorrow at dawn." Nen Instructed. "Dawn? Shouldn't we start going as soon as we can?" Nathan asked. Nen shook his head "Trust me, the less time we spend in that jungle during dark, the better. It's best we make sure we have the most daylight possible. We do not want to be out there when it's dark." Nen said. " The quicker we can move, the better. If we manage to keep a good pace, we should be able to get up to the mountain village by nightfall." Nen stated. Nathan moved his hand to his chin in thought, thinking on the information Nen had just given him. Nathan inhaled and removed his hand from his mouth. "Alright." Nathan said standing up. "I'll gather our people and we'll meet you at the North Gate tomorrow at dawn." Nathan repeated, before thanking the barmaid for her time and patience. Then Nathan exited the tavern to gather put together the expedition party for tomorrow.

The sound of footsteps could be heard through the thin fog of the morning. Nathan and thirteen of his hand picked marines moved forth towards  the North Gate.
-

Nathan thought back to the previous evening. He had picked out a handful of marines for the trek up the mountain. He relayed the message that Nen had told him. They needed to be able to move quickly, but also be prepared for the many dangers that lurk in the territory that they will be passing through. Including himself and Nen, Nathan would be needing thirteen others to join them. Nathan asked for volunteers among the Marines that he'd picked out. Nathan had picked out several medical marines to assist him, a couple cooks for nutritional relief, and the rest were mainly muscle and fighters. All were marines, all were dedicated to their cause.  Almost right off the bat, he had the thirteen that he needed.

Once Nathan had the Marines he was taking, he informed them of what they needed to pack. What medical equipment to take, how many rations to bring, which books to bring, tents and everything. After Nathan had briefed the mountain party, by the time they had gathered everything they needed for the journey, it was night.
-
Nathan and his travel party met with Nen at the North Gate. “You have everything and all the people I instructed to bring?” Nen asked approaching Nathan’s party,  stretching his neck side to side. Nathan and his party stopped before Nen. Nathan looked around and made a head count. “Everyone’s here that’s going. I’ll have them double-check their gear and equipment, then we’ll be ready to move out.” Nathan said. Nen nodded. “alright, have them be quick about it, we’ve got limited time.” Nathan turned and announced. " Everyone make another quick check of your gear and equipment, make sure we have everything we need.” Nathan said. “ After that, We’re moving out!.”

Nathan received a thumbs up from each member of his travel party, signaling that the equipment check was finished and they were good to go. Nathan turned to Nen. "Alright, We're ready." Nathan said. "Very well. Let's head out, I'll explain the nitty-gritty details on the way, before we hit the jungle trail." Nen said. With that Nen turned and walked out the gate with Nathan and 13 marines following behind.

The travel posse marched forth through the thin veil slowly goldening fog laying in the flat section of plains before the foot of the mountain. Nen yelling out instructions on what to do if they run into some of the dangers in the forest. " ...Most of the bandits are easy to spook off, but if a captain is with them they're much more likely to get violent..." Was one tip. "...the flowers with the red and blue petals are deadly, the ones with yellow and black are deadlier, the blue ones are good breath fresheners..." was another. Nen continued spouting warnings and instructions until they were within spitting distance of the jungle.

They paused briefly before the mouth of the jungle, making a quick check that everything was working as it was supposed to and everyone was well hydrated. After the short break, they picked their packs back up and Nen led them into the jungle.

Once in the jungle, the difference was quite literally night and day. The trees above blocked out the majority of the light, creating ominous thin pillars of light within the rolling fog. Nen stopped once everyone was inside. " We'll hang around here for a few minutes and let your eyes adjust so you can see easier the rest of the way." After a little bit, the moved ahead once more.

The party moved forward following Nen and listening to his instructions. There were a couple trips and stumbles over exposed roots, but no falls. Other than that, Nen said they were making good time. Suddenly though, Nen froze in place. Nathan stopped behind him and signaled for the rest of the group to stop. "Nobody. Move." Nen whispered loudly.

The party had stopped dead in their tracks on order from Nen at the head of the group. Nen mouthed instructions that nobody move or make a sound. Silence fell as the group listened and waited, wondering what they were being quiet for. Then the silence was broken by a thundering of footsteps ahead. A massive lizard looking beast with large tusks slowly trudged across the trail a few hundred feet ahead. The beast crawled its way before them dragging its massive tail across their path.

Nen gave a gesture to move a few moments giving the creature time to get some distance between them. "Quietly and slow." Nen instructed in a whisper. The party crept forward along the path, having to step down into the large impressions in the soft ground made by the beast. They were just about past when the last guy got some bad footing and tripped, falling to the ground his pack making a loud series of clanking. Suddenly a thundering started up from one side of the path. Marines hurried to get their comrade up and out of the footprint. The galloping charged closer. Nathan and the marines pulled the last guy from the footprints and sprinted a ways away before the beast from earlier exploded from the brush and plowed into a large tree on the other side of the path, goring the tree with one of it's tusks.

"Move! Move!" Nen yelled as he pulled the pin from a grenade looking device and tossed it off to the side of the path. Nen ran as the device began to ring loudly. The travel party ran off as the beast ripped its tusk from out of the tree and charged off towards the loud ringing. After a short bit of running, the group stopped. "That was a Bolbeast." He whispered. "Let's wait here for a moment, let's make sure we've lost it."  he said. Nathan and the other marines agreed with some head nods.

After a brief few minutes, Nen gave the signal to continue forth and worked his way up to the front of the pack. They continued on their way for several hours, breaking here and there to allow the marine's bodies to adjust to the altitude. The last thing any of them needed was altitude sickness. A time or two during the breaks the quickly ate some of the food that'd been prepared. Nathan checked his watch to find that they were at about noon. "Are we making good time?" Nathan asked Nen. "It could be better, we're probably gonna be cutting it a little close to dark, but if we keep up a strong pace we can pull it off." Nen replied. "Very well." Nathan said. "Marines, let's hurry up and get going so we can help those people."