[Discontinued Arc] How To Make Friends

Arc Description:

The Azure Night. A ship that most people wouldn't even recognize as a pirate ship. And yet, it did indeed carry a mostly reluctant crew of pirates. Thankfully, each and every member of the crew took their job seriously. Of course, given a chance, some of them would likely ditch their position in favor of living a normal life. Really, Alexa couldn't blame them if they did. She was only living this life because of a single accident. Still, they were on course for Karate Island. They had a few trinkets taken from minor pirate crews that were harassing civilians, along with a need to restock the kitchen. Alexa figured that would also give the people on her ship a chance to decide if they really wanted to continue to live a life of piracy. Still, when the island came up in the distance, the young captain couldn't help but grin. It was an exciting prospect for her, even now. She got a bit of a rush from sailing the seas like this, even if she was more at risk of drowning than anyone else. Still, she supposed that it'd be a good idea to alert the crew.

"We're coming up on land people! Everyone man their stations so that we can properly dock the ship this time!" She yelled out, her voice carrying quite well as the ship sailed in silence for a few moments..at least, until everyone on the ship got scrambling to their places. Once they were in place, it only took twenty minutes for them to be properly docked. After opening both doors to the treasury, she watched as several of the general crew members carried the gold, spices, and other valuable materials out to the market. She smiled a bit. They were doing a wonderful job just passing as a merchant ship. Still, she figured now was as good a time as ever to wander around. Her crew knew what they were doing with the materials they needed to sell. So, with a shrug, Alexa raised her arms up over her head, stretching as she turned on her heel and walked into town.

That was where things got..strange, to say the least. People seemed to be crowding around a specific area. There was a tournament going on it seemed. And from what Alexa was able to see after she used her power to swim underneath everyone that was blocking her view, it was something that had the makings of a martial arts tournament. She raised her eyebrow at that. Once the match itself ended, Alexa lightly elbowed someone next to her in the side, and asked what the tournament was about, and if it was still open to potential entrants.

"Oh, you mean the Disciple of Discipline? Yeah, it's open to entrants from other islands. Usually it wouldn't be, but for some reason competitors keep turning up dead and drained. We don't know what's going on. The local authorities are investigating, but until they figure things out, the festival is still accepting new entrants to fill the gap." He explained, causing Alexa to nod as she listened. Really, she shouldn't have been interested. She fought with weapons. Her sword and her grenades. And yet, something about this whole situation intrigued her. She had some skill in Martial Arts. Really, living on the streets and stowing away as often as she did resulted in a need to have skill with them.

A few more questions led Alexa to the center of town, where there was a man set up at a desk. Of course, when she got up to the desk, she was pleasantly surprised, as she watched someone who was very clearly an extremely skilled swordsman. As she watched him walk away, Alexa found herself fairly surprised. So weapons had to be allowed. Still, there was a man sitting behind the desk that the swordsman had walked away from. Without saying anything, she merely walked up to him. "So, I take it this is where we sign up for the tournament?" She asked, her expression being fairly normal. The man just looked her over, a small little smirk on his lips as he chuckled. "Well..you see, this is really only considered a tournament by the people that live here. In all reality, its a free for all brawl that we require people to sign a waiver for before entry. All it says is that the coordinators of this brawl are not responsible for any harm done to the people who enter. The obvious exception to this is fatal injuries. Something that has become all too common, as I'm sure you've heard." He explained, causing Alexa to nod. "Yeah..I did hear about that. Any idea what's going on with it?" She asked, causing the man to visibly look nervous.

"Well..the official ruling is that more investigation needs to be done..But..personally? I think that someone's hunting down the competition. Someone with a devil fruit." He said, his voice having dropped to a whisper. That actually intrigued her a bit more. "Really? Aren't those supposed to just be myths though?" She asked, beginning a blatant lie now, especially given that she herself was a devil fruit user. The man nodded, but held his position. A bit of small talk about the fruits themselves ensued, and then Alexa brought the discussion back to its intended purpose. "On a lighter note, what are the rules for this? I would assume no weapons, but are there any other extenuating rules?" She asked, her head tilting to the side a tad.

"Yeah, actually. Weapons are allowed, provided that they can actually be used without causing extreme amount of harm to an opponent, such as firearms or grenades. This typically leads people to bring in Melee weapons, and we try to put people together that have a similar kit, that way there's no real one sided fight. Aside from that, it should be noted that you can only win by submission. Ring outing is not in effect." He explained, causing a chuckle from Alexa. Oh well. This seemed like an interesting situation. Maybe she could stay here for a few days..give the crew a much deserved break. Without much hesitation, she signed off on the Waiver, wrote down what weapons she planned to be using, and her name was added to the list. Now..time to go see about those new weapons she needed. Her grenades and current sword were well and good..but she needed something that wasn't so blatantly stolen from the Marines..

"Goodbye, son” were the last words he heard as he headed out and on his way to one of the bigger villages with a port. He figured that it would be the best place to try and convince someone of his usefulness to get on a ship and off the island. But for now all that stood in his way was about an hour walk to the village while he thought of the different ways to convince someone.

The sun was high overhead as Ryoma finally approached the village and noticed that it was a lot fuller than it usually was. Though it was quite full he still heard the people mutter when he passed “Isn't that Ryoma he was suppose to be the next great blacksmith on the island, but look at his hands they are covered it must be true about what happened no wonder he doesn't come here anymore.” Ryoma just kept walking trying not to pay attention to the idle chatter, but the the crowd grew more and more as he drew closer to the stadium. He just wanted to get to the docks and either buy a ship or try and join a crew, then remember ships are quite expensive,checking his money he knew he couldn't afford more then maybe a dingy, so he figured his only choice was to join a crew.

As he pushed past the crow and found himself by the docks, he saw a couple ships trying to find one that would take him off this island. He figured his best bet was to join a merchant ship to go to a bigger island with more of a pirate presence seeing as how he could never join with the marines. His eyes found their way to The Azure Night.  It was a beauty of a ship and he even saw some people on it, so Ryoma thought to himself “maybe they are about to set sail this would be perfect for me.” He then called up to the ship from the docks “Hello up there, I was wondering if I could speak with the captain at all.” Someone called down saying “Captain ain't here right now, she went into town to see what the crowd was about, she has blue hair you can't miss her.” Ryoma yelled back up “Thank you!” With that he rushed off to the crowd again.

He got back to the crowd and didn't see anyone with blue hair. So he decided to try and get closer to the front, while excusing himself through the crowd he caught a hint of blue hair at the sign in table but before he could get to her she had already left. So he decided to ask the attendant “Do you know who she is, And where she is going?” The attendant stared at him before saying “You know I can't reveal personal info like that, only way for you to find out is if you sign up for the tournament. Come on Ryoma we all heard about what happened and that you've been training those hands and feet. We all wanna see what you can do after learning from your father, you’ll be able to leave the gauntlets and greaves on though we are allowing weapons and abilities to be used this year, you know since so many people seem to be popping up with them.” Ryoma dejectedly sighed while whispering “Fine you win,” and took the waiver, signed it and watched as his name was added to the list. As Ryoma was about to leave the attendant whispered to get Ryoma’s attention one last time “Listen you might wanna be careful a couple of the fighters in this tournament have been turning up dead and dried up like a husk, so watch yourself OK. Oh and one last thing it looked like the one you were looking for it seemed like she was looking at her weapons, so I don't know but maybe she was looking for something knew you could try one of the weapon shops around here if you really want to find her.” Ryoma turned around and gave a thumbs up sign and said “Thank you.”

With that he set off to the closet weapon shop he knew of in the area hoping to bump into the captain and either show his usefulness, beg, or bribe her to let him on the ship and travel with the crew, till he found a way to join up with some pirates.

With a population of muscle and pride, nobody would expect snow-haired Weasel to be walking amidst them. He did just that, humming a tune as he slipped his hands through many pockets. Humming a calm tune, he filled his pockets with coin progressively. "Take a moment to remind yourself~♪" Every now and again, he swirled himself around larger targets and slipped through denser groups as an "accident". Before anyone could suspect his sticky fingers, he'd already be ghost. "...To take a moment and find youself~♪" His melody was soft and calm, playing along with the island's breeze brushing through his hair.

He felt loose, dancing and dashing while he built his fortune inch-by-inch. After a while of stealing, he eventually made his way towards a stand offering well-done meats. Awful, but he had to compromise for food. Plucking a coin that somehow stuck to his fingers from when he bumped into someone, he purchased his well-done meat and begrudgingly ate it. Eventually he came to a sort of registration desk for a special tournament happening that was apparently annual and very much part of the Karate culture. Naaaaah....

Weasel saw the island around him as a wonderful kaleidoscope, ignoring all the looks speaking many different emotions. Stares just screaming, "I'm better than you, skinny boy. Get off my island," or "so eccentric, hideous twink!". Weasel just ignored them, or at least pretended to. When he realized he wasn't actually going to make much by simply picking off the pockets of those around him and that he would eventually fight someone, he scouted out what he assumed would be a decent place to steal from.

While Weasel took a moment and stopped, peering over at a blacksmith's shop, he heard angry steps and infuriated voices approaching. Turning his head, he saw a trio of angry martial-artists who seemed to have been missing their funds. "Hello gentlemen, how may I help you?" "Cut the shit, white-head. We're missing our coin purses and we ALL bumped into you!" the largest spoke, cracking his knuckles. "Who, me? Oh, I disagree but I guess that won't stop you from swinging..." Weasel spoke with his typical monotone voice, scratching his head and closing his eyes.

Taking a moment, he was prepared to open his eyes before being flashed with blue-tinted image of a heavy fist crashing down on him. His eyes darted open and the snow-haired merchant tumbled low to the ground. The wall near him exploded and he rose his hands. "Woah, how about we stay calm, right? I have money, my money, and I can pay you!" The large man yanked his fist out from the debris, seething with rage. "That's not YOUR money that's OUR money!" Weasel rolled his eyes, slipping a pair of shuko onto his hands with the claw-side on his palms.

"So? Are you going to find all thirty, forty or maybe even FIFTY people I could have stolen from? It's MY money." The trio didn't quite like what he was saying, so they respectfully retorted by rushing him. Weasel was a bit too slippery, slip-sliding through the crowd and into the alley by the smith's shop. Well, at least today's a little less boring... Weasel picked the lock to the smith's shop and hid in it. He took a moment before deciding what he wanted to snag, but didn't realize someone was inside nor that people were soon to arrive. Eh, this stuff isn't as characteristic as the guy's trinkets on Shimotsuki....

"This is the last time I come all this way to this stinkin' island for some job. Get a job as a guard for sooooome stinkin' tournament all the way out here and by time I finally arrive they say they don't need anyone else!" the girl exclaimed to herself as she mucked her way through the city, the young-looking girl obviously looked furious but with the odd way she was trampling down the street with her knees raising up almost comically high and that pouty face of her's.. Well, it almost looked more cute than something frightening. "All those stupid men. Lookin' all buff an' they were all 'we don't need some stick girl to have to look after while she plays guard'." She continued to explain, clearly in a tizzy about the whole ordeal. It's likely that this wasn't the first time something like this has happened to her.

There was a brief pause, however. She needed some more money. She had come all the way here, couldn't just leave empty handed. That was when she had gotten a rather ingenious idea of joining the tournament. Tournaments have prizes. And prizes could either be money or something traded for money.

However Kaia was left with a particular conundrum now. She had to get to the registration booth but there was such a large crowd blocking her path! It would be a bother to have to go all the way around them.. So.. She decided to do things her ways. She began shoving her way through! "Move it, ya chumps! I got something to sign up for!"

It sorta took a bit longer. She isn't exactly one boasting as much actual strength as a lot of this island's inhabitants. But after bumping and squeezing by, she made it to the table as Ryona had left. Her eyes followed him for a moment before she trudged on up to it. "I wanna sign up for the fight!" she promptly declaired. The attendant looked her over for a moment, judging her while he seemed to be sorting through some of the applications before he recognized her and decided to ask: "Aren't you supposed to be one of the guards?" "Never mind that, change of plans!" came a quick response from Kaia, the girl yanking a waiver from his hands as she went to quickly sign it.

She eventually handed it back, the man taking it for a moment. "I know the rules and all already. Free for all brawl. No killing the others, no big harm. Yadda yadda." she continued to speak as she brought a hand up to spin it slightly. "Well alright then. You have some time before you're up." Kaia only responded in a soft grumble as she went to turn and walk off slowly. She had some preparing to do. Of course as she was walking, the attendant let out a soft sigh. "What a small, rude lady.."

And she was making the most out of her time! She stopped at multiple stores on the way till she happened upon the smithy! She had a variety of items including, but not limited to, a small metal pot, a bundle of long white candles, a small bottle containing some kind of powder, and a small fire log; all bundled into her hands. What she was looking for now was for an open fire that she wouldn't have to build herself!

Reason why she had come to the weapon shop. Blacksmiths usually had that kind of thing. Little did she know she was coincidentally heading into the same one everyone else was going into! What a coincidence!

The Disciple of Discipline was a tournament that often drawn in an immense amount of interest from its participants, and rightly so! Not only was it a grand event where the disciples had an opportunity to prove their strength in comparison to one another, the various martial arts master of the island also took this as an opportunity to scout for anyone worthy of their interest. Still, to think that she of all people would be participating in this event was kind of unusual. She could still remember, how it had only been a few days since her fight against Heracles, and yet her heart craved for more, that sensation... that thrill of a duel was the closest thing to the hunt that she could experience right now. Silently her yellow eyes gazed at the gathering fighters that were busy signing up.

"..." So far she had not seen anyone worthwhile, a bored little sigh escaping her lips when finally her companion nudged her side lightly. "This way Noir, you're part of the dojo representatives." Master Hong explained quietly as he guided her past the crowds and toward an almost empty part of the area where people had been signing up for the event. "Dojo representatives?" Tilting her head sideways in confusion the young woman looked slightly bewildered at the explanation before Master Hong continued his explanation.  "Yes, it means that you're chosen as a representative of one of Karate Island's dojos. You're fighting as my disciple." They arrived at a small building nearby the arena the fight was being held at, and upon observing a lone man seated behind the counter the stranger sat upright and bowed his head lightly. "Master Hong, to what do we own the pleasure?"

Master Hong gestured a hand lightly at Noir as he continued. "I'm entering my disciple this year. This is Noir of the Cerberus people from the Grandline." The man's eyes widened slightly in disbelief as he eyed her with a clear hint of curiosity in his eyes. "Cerberus? But she looks like an ordinary female woman to me... a pretty feisty one in looks, and high quality in certain-" Noticing his wandering gaze Noir adjusted her stance lightly, her bandaged arm resting lightly on her hip as she remarked dryly. "Are the goods to your liking, inspector?" A soft cough came from the man while Master Hong sighed in response. "Noir, show him." It didn't take long, a simple sideways stretch of her bandaged arm causing the bandages to slip loose and reveal her large monstrous claw, while a long serpent hissed behind her. "W-Wait they are real?!" The man's response caused Noir's lips to curve up slightly at his disbelief while Master Hong continued. "According to the laws, she can participate, right? Although she is able to meditate to enter a human-like form, it severely restricts her power and would be an unfair disadvantage, not to mention a slight to her opponent's honor."

The man pondered for a moment while he mused out loud. "I never thought I'd see someone from the Grandline... Fine... Fine, but make sure she doesn't accidently kill anyone!, Master Hong!" A light nod came from Noir as she turned her arm back to normal while watching the waiver being placed on the table. "Be careful Noir, some people have been turning up dead and drained into husks, you might draw some unwanted attention as a result of your looks, but please don't let it get to you."


A light wave of her hand was made as if she disregarded the comment. "Don't worry about me." With that said and done the young lady soon found herself back outside alongside her mentor who stated calmly. "I'm going to the spectator seats already, don't turn up too late now."

However, something had caught Noir's attention, a soft sniffing in the air following as she caught a rather pleasant scent. Of course, the huntress was quick to pursue the trail, following it amidst the crowds of people before she finally spotted the source of the scent, a young woman with long blue hair kept in a ponytail. "Hmm, excuse me..." She paused for a moment as she addressed Alexa, taking a step forward and turning around to face her before she continued. "I couldn't happen but notice that you carry a scent foreign to this island." A soft sniff followed before she raised a finger to her nose. "Spices from foreign lands across the sea, and my nose is never wrong when it comes to scents. Are you a traveler?"

There was something about the woman's scent that caught her interest, the lingering traces of spices from her merchant ship having lingered around her, and as a result, Noir couldn't help but think about the various islands across the sea. "My name is Noir-" she paused for a second while recalling her teacher's earlier words. "A disciple of Karate Island's Master Hong." Good, she had almost spilled the beans on her teacher's lie, but fortunately for her, she had been able to cover it up just in time.

Honestly, Alexa didn't really know where she was going. At this point she was just wandering the town, the sword stolen from her father's murderer bouncing lightly on her hip as she walked. Every so often, she had to stop and ask if this was the right direction to be going to find the weapon shop. Occasionally she was told yeah, but every so often she would take the wrong turn. At some point however, she ended up finding the local blacksmith. Before she could even touch the handle of the door however, Alexa heard someone speak to her. With a raise of her eyebrow, she glanced over her shoulder, only to see someone that was dressed in what could only be described as rags that seemed to be held together by sheer force of will, and bandages going up and down one of her arms.

Admittedly, the bandages worried Alexa a bit. She knew that typically meant that someone had some level of injuries. However, what confused her even more was what the woman had to say about her..scent? Wait, what? She had to be joking. She'd taken a bath right before she got off the ship. Not even a hot one either. She forced herself to take a cold one. But then she mentioned the smell of spices. That actually caught her attention and made her turn around fully. She had been in the kitchen before, and she figured that the scent of the spices she'd used before would still be lingering on her. Of course, that also meant that this woman wasn't exactly normal. When the woman introduced herself, she sighed and figured she could do the same. She extended one of her gloved hands out to Noir.

"Well..I guess it's nice to meet you Noir. I'm Alexa Icnoyotl, Captain of the ship known as The Azure Night" She said, shaking Noir's hand if she accepted the handshake. Once that was done, she gestured for her to follow if she still wanted to talk before walking into the blacksmith's shop, knocking a few times on the frame of the door. For a few moments there was only silence, then came a voice. A man's voice. "It's Open!" The voice yelled. Alexa admittedly had to blink. From what she had been told, Adwynne was adamant about running her store on her own. It seemed that time away had changed what Edwynne had told her. It seemed that it wasn't too busy of a day today though. Though they had passed an angry crowd on the way here, the building that they were near was almost completely empty. Really, there was only a woman who..ugh. Carried guns.

Of course, there was nothing wrong with them. If someone preferred to carry guns over blades or other weapons, Alexa wouldn't try to stop them. It was their choice. Of course, she didn't exactly like them. And of course, near the entrance there had been someone that looked fairly shady, if the man who was standing behind the counter's constant stare at him didn't make that obvious enough. Still, she walked up to the counter with Noir. "Um. This store is run by Adwynne Wright, correct?" She asked, causing the man at the counter to nod. "Ye. Whats it to ya?" He said as he shifted his gaze almost reluctantly to Alexa. "Well, her sister, Edwynne, told me I could find her here." She said, causing the rather man to look at Alexa suspiciously for a few moments, almost like he didn't buy it. Thankfully, what he thought didn't matter, as she heard another voice. A woman's.

"Huh..so it seems ya know Ed. It'd do her some good ta send some letters back home once in a while. Well, if she told ya about me, ya must be here for somethin. So, whaddaya want?" She said as she walked out of the back room.

"I want you to somehow make those gloves more suitable to combat. And after that, I'd like a cutlass..but maybe we should move to a more..private room." She said as she tapped the end of the guard of the spadroon that was hanging on her waist, drawing Adwynne's attention to the battered Marine officer's sword on her hip. It seemed that she understood the situation rather wholly. She nodded and gestured for Alexa to follow her. Of course, it was likely that Noir would follow. She wouldn't really stop her. If she had any special power like she did, then Alexa doubted that she could actually stop her. Once they all entered the back room, Adwynne locked the door behind them, gesturing for the two women to sit in the chairs in front of the rather nice desk that was set up back here. "A'ight. So tha's an officer's sword ya got there. If you know Ed, then something tells me that you aren't a marine. So spill it. Who are you, and what do you want."

"Alright. Well, she wasn't lying about how astute you are. My name is Alexa Icnoyotl. I'm currently sailing around in an attempt to build up a crew...A pirate crew. I suppose you already knew that though, given how beaten up this sword is." She said, pulling her sword out of its sheath before placing it on the desk. To anyone that was even remotely familiar with the Marines, it was obvious that the sword that she had pulled out was stolen from an officer, given that the blade was nicked in places, and the guard was battered. "Your sister is working as the shipwright for my ship, the Azure Night. Apparently she assumes that she will be forced to listen to a rant from you if she had come here with me, so she elected to remain on the ship. Sorry. As for what I would like..I need another sword. As for the design, I would like it to all be made out of a single piece of steel. No handle, and with a guard like this one-but without the balls on it."

She said before slowly peeling her gloves off of her hands, placing them gingerly on the desk atop the sword. "I would also like for these gloves to be made more combat ready, and for some repairs to be made on the sword on your desk. I can cover all the costs, so that's no issue." She said, seeming quite confident. Interesting. Still, the owner of the shop pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed. "The sword'll be easy enough..lots of people come in here wanting more intimidating weapons or repairs. Talk to the man at the counter, I think we have a weapon in stock that's exactly what you were looking for. I'll handle the repairs on this one. However..the gloves..you're gonna need to leave them here. That's gonna take some time." She said, causing Alexa to nod. She really was an interesting one, it seemed. Of course, after she was done speaking, Adwynne walked up to the door and unlocked it, causing Alexa to stand up and offer her hand to shake. The ensuing handshake was surprisingly firm on both ends. Well. That had gone better than she thought it would.

Ryoma knew all of the blacksmiths on the island and knew which one people would point someone new in town towards. Though Ryoma did stop a few people to ask if they have seen a blue haired woman passing by, they had for the most part confirmed that she had been this way. He needed to be careful, he didn't want to seem desperate to his potential employer/free ride off this island. After a bit he finally found Adwynne’s place. He didn't remember it as much as he would have liked too but then again its been a couple of years since he was even near a smith, which sadden him yet emboldened his new dream.

Ryoma had just gotten to Adwynne's smithy when he noticed that the door was closed, which seeing as it was after lunch already was quite weird especially when he found the door locked. So he decided to knock albeit a little too hard. “Hey Adwynne, are you home? I need to ask you some things, come on open up. I know we haven't spoken in ages, but I think you have met someone I need to talk too.” Ryoma then noticed that the door was unlocked and walked in to the store seeing an unfamiliar man at the counter and a very skinny woman who was holding guns, he also noticed a white haired man looking like he was trying not to be seen by someone. “Hmm interesting don't often see people using guns on the island, but I hope she isn't here to cause too much trouble.” Ryoma thought to himself as he walked up to the counter.

“Hey there, I'm looking for Adwynne though I dont think I have met you yet. Have you seen her?”  The man just looks up at me with a quizzical look as if he didn't here my question. Just then I heard the back room door unlock and saw Adwynne come walking out with two other people one the blue haired women he was looking for and a black haired women who seems to be look at the blue haired women with lustful eyes.

“I have found you mystery captain of the Azure Night, I have come to ask if I could come aboard for a bit to get to another island for personal reasons. I have money I can pay.” Ryoma stated as he waited for her response. Adwynne spoke up first with “What makes you think that she even wants to take you to any island, why would you even think that coming here to ask something like this was a good idea.” Ryoma pounded his fist onto the counter making the wood crack saying “It's cause I need to get off this island in a inconspicuous ship and to find a crew that will take me aboard with them to sail to the new world where I can find the strongest martial artist and defeat him.