[Episode]Retaining One's Honor

“Oi! Make sure none of you rascals give us away, got it?!” A short woman shouted at several of the gangly young men who scuttled around The Scorned Lady’s deck. They were all getting ready to dock at Karate Island, an island Miku had personally been wanting to visit for quite a while now. Though she knew that the Marine’s presence on this island was greater than she was used to, thus instead of sailing her shoddily made Jolly Roger they were sailing the old colors of those merchants the ship had belonged to originally. Bastards as they were, at least they were legitimate enough with their paperwork. The thought of what their real ‘cargo’ was still caused a small growl to emit from the woman, scaring one of the younger members of her crew.

As The Scorned Lady pulled into dock she made sure to have the proper paperwork on her to show whoever greeted them at the dock to check them in. After being properly docked she was able to convince the dock worker that they were a new crew that had just been signed up with the company the ship had once belonged to. It was irritating to Miku how the biggest issue she ran into was the condescending looks and tone of the dock worker when she claimed to be in charge of the small crew. It took all of her willpower to not simply deck the guy there and then. Eventually with the paperwork squared away and double the docking fee to get the guy out of her face, Karate island awaited the Rascal.

Turning to her crew she quickly assigned jobs to her crew to resupply the ship with the basic necessities and nothing else for now. They weren’t made of Berries just yet but that would change one day. Afterwards she told them they could take some shore leave but to make sure to leave a pair to watch the ship. The bluenette quickly made her way off the dock as she heard the beginnings of a squabble over who was going to end up staying first. The woman sighed as she realized her mistake of letting them make decisions for themselves. If only Fran had decided to stay with them and be her First Mate, but that woman was stubborn and Miku loved that about her. Plus those eyes of her could turn even the most stoic of men into quivering puddles, truly a pity she set out on her own.

As Miku made her way into the little fishing village that seemed to operate as one of the many ports she noticed a distinct lack of martial artists. The brawler was disappointed but realistically knew this was nothing but a small village in the grand scheme of things. After spending some time walking the village, buying small snacks and making idle chatter with the locals Miku learned that most martial artists lived at their dojos. These dojos were often separate from the fishing villages but easily a couple hours walk from them. Miku would thank them for this information and start making her way towards the nearest one. Hopefully she would run into some actual martial artists soon, otherwise this would be a huge let down for the brawler.

After a few hours of walking Miku eventually passed several people who kindly pointed her at the nearest town that was home to a Dojo. It was interesting seeing all the different kinds of people traveling the roads, most of them students or ex-students at several different Dojos on the island. It turns out it was custom to travel back to the island to pay respect to the masters and even make donations. It turns out the dojos were free for anyone who wished to learn. This was a fact that Miku doubted at first but after several confirmations she was baffled by this fact. It was amazing to think that such knowledge would be given for free, it also made her wonder how different her life would have been had she access to even a single person willing to teach her to defend herself.

As she pondered these thoughts and allowed her imagination to run wild the trek to the nearest dojo quickly passed in her mind. Several hours seemed to melt as Miku admired the scenery, spoke with other travelers, and lost herself in her thoughts. Eventually she found herself in a small village as the sun was beginning to set behind her, the work day was over and many of the villagers could be seen packing up or returning home. Naturally Miku kept an eye out for any manual laborers who seemed to be moving toward a common destination with purpose. Why? Because if there was any truth in the world it was that hard working men loved to a cold drink after a long day. Lo and behold, Miku found herself in front of a rather occupied building that seemed to be full with much merriment at the moment.

The Rascal made her way into the establishment and found it full of local laborers all drinking away the days worries conversing with one another. The petite woman made her way to a dark corner of the bar and awaited a busser to come by to order herself a small plate and some beer. To her annoyance the busser gave her a bit of a hard time before finally taking her order for the alcohol. It only took a few extra berries of course. A sigh left her lips as she leaned back in the chair to observe the room, it was full of large men, stout men, short men, lanky men, men, men, men, and even more men. This observation was nothing new but still put her on edge as most assumed she was a young man, if not a boy, due to her stature and the bindings hiding her bust; besides these facts she still felt completely outnumbered. Of course she could probably beat all of these guys into submission easily enough but that wasn’t the point.

As Miku spent some time enjoying her meal and sipping her drink slowly; she didn’t want a repeat of what happened on Baterilla. The memory of how rowdy she got, ha ha, was still a spot of embarrassment for the woman. Memories of that blond Marine crossed her mind and she actually blushed at the memory of him. Damn Marine, taking advantage of her when she was both emotionally compromised and inebriated. At least that’s what she told herself as the young woman took another gulp of her drink to distract herself. So much for that offer he made, it was much too late to even consider that option.

These thoughts occupied her mind until a loud ruckus across the tavern caught her attention. It seemed like some of the locals were ganging up on a… a… very hairy man? No, upon closer inspection it was actually a monkey… man? Honestly, it was one of the strangest things she had seen. Though this revelation was put to the side when she began to hear what the men were threatening to do to the lone monkey-man. The Rascal’s ears were actually beginning to turn a bit red from the insinuations the drunk men were making about the single man. ‘Give you a banana… we don’t want you gone yet… bit rougher with him…’ All these things were definitely triggering some bells in Miku’s head and she began to worry for the monkey-man. Should she interrupt? It wasn’t her problem but a group of drunk men were always dangerous. Miku got up from her seat and started to make her way over, not really sure what she was planning to do but figured she might as well be near just in case something did pop off.

As the brawler made her way through the crowd slowly she made sure to observe the situation closely, it seemed the drunkards were slowly closing in on the monkey man. Miku had seen this too many times from her youth and could easily imagine the first drunkard reaching for their target before it even happened, but just as her prediction came true the monkey man surprised her. He had punched the assailant with his off hand before quickly pulling a polearm from somewhere on his person. Miku decided to meld back into the gathering crowd and continue observing the fight for now. She was definitely interested in how well the monkey man handled himself.

The entire exchange only lasted seconds before two bodies were unconscious on the floor, the other drunks were mottled, and only leaving the leader with any bluster in him. Though the threat he made towards Kon also stroked Miku’s curiosity, what had the monkey done to get himself exiled from his dojo? Though it was the second man’s drunken ramblings that really caused the Rascal’s eyebrow to curve up, a rigged tournament? Of course as soon as the words left his lips the leader tried to cover up and the monkey had none of it. Soon another body was on the floor and a grin was officially on Miku’s face, she liked this monkey’s style. The Rascal’s grin fell when she heard the answer to monkey’s inquiry, it wasn’t an uncommon tale. Tales of betrayal were common where she was from too but apparently honor was a big deal around her if it was such a hot topic of gossip.

When the monkey man left the bar in a hurry the Rascal’s eyes followed him out with rapt attention. Her curiosity wasn’t sated yet and she had a feeling if she wanted to figure out what was going on it would be best to head straight to the source. With the decision made in her head the Rascal headed straight toward the exit while shoulder checking one of the drunk assailants and knocking him into one of the others. She could hear raised voices behind her and the sound of knuckles on flesh, a familiar sound. The Rascal smirked and exited the tavern.

Once outside Miku quickly scanned several of the paths in front of the tavern in hopes of spotting the Monkey’s retreating form. Though after a second she realized he was simply leaning against the wall of the actual tavern. The Rascal walked over to the monkey man with her hands in her pockets as she approached. “Hey Monkey Boy, that was some handy work in there.” The short woman said as she got closer to the man, he was pretty damn tall and that irked her a bit more than it should.

“Heard what they said in there too, sounds pretty rough. I’d offer to buy you a drink but I doubt you want to head back in there at the moment.” The woman continued as she leaned against the wall of the Tavern. “I’d still be willing to buy you that drink if you know of any other places filled with less assholes.” The offer was genuine and she hoped he accepted. Getting drinks into a person was the best way to get their story out of em, she knew that only too well. “If you don’t I got some stuff we can drink back at my ship, though it’s docked about two hours that way.” Miku offered as an afterthought, if she overheard right then he wasn’t exactly welcomed by most locals. If he accepted she’d start leading the way, and if he had his own place she’d follow at a safe distance from him.

Miku nodded her head as when the Monkey man mentioned a bar he hoped to still be on good terms with unlike the one they were currently at. The short woman simply spit at the building as she kicked off the wall and walked slightly behind him. Small talk began to ensue and the pirate decided to listen patiently as it seemed the guy simply wanted to fill the silence. She nodded in response to his question and kept her hands in her pockets as they walked. The air wasn’t too cold yet and the sky had finally darkened completely leaving them in starlight and torches along the roads.

It was kind of the Monkey man to apologize on behalf of the poor show of his apparent home, though Miku felt it was unnecessary. He hadn’t done anything wrong besides existing apparently. She smirked when he mentioned the local dojo was outdated and was full of hot air; maybe she could stop by and put them in their place. It sounds like a fun idea and she pocketed the idea for later. His name was eventually revealed and Miku visibly grinned at his local nickname. It seems the locals were as imaginative as she was, which wasn’t much at all. At the mention of him being cute Miku gave an appraising look when he wasn’t paying attention. Cute wasn’t a word she would use for him now, especially with his animalistic features, towering height, and toned muscles which must have been built from years of intense training. She supposed she could see why people started to view him differently into his adult age.

Once they had reached the bar Miku signaled upon entry at the local serving girl and followed Kon to a table. As she sat down it seemed her simian companion had finally realized how he had completely dominated the conversation between them, not that she minded. He obviously needed to let off some steam and if rambling did that for him, so be it. Miku simply grinned at him as the serving girl came by right after his question. “I’ll take a beer and he’ll have the same, open a tab for me would ya?” As Miku said this she laid some Berries on the table to cover the first round of drinks and a little tip for the girl. She couldn’t have been much older than Miku herself but something about being in several life and death situations sometimes made her feel older than she was.

With that done the Rascal turned back to Kon and leaned back into her chair with a single arm dangling over the back of it. “I’m Miku Sato, a drifter that sails with a small crew wherever the winds take us.” The lie slipped from her lips naturally enough, she’d learned the hard way that most people don’t take kindly to pirates. Especially those with bounties on their heads and if Kon hadn’t recognized her then maybe the posters hadn’t been updated on this island. “If you want more than that you’re gonna have to earn it, monkey boy.” Miku said with a teasing smirk as their drinks arrived and she took a sip from hers. The delightful taste was followed by a slight burn that she had grown to love quite rapidly.

“For now let’s just drink up and enjoy peaceful company, though if any trouble does brew I’m not one to shy from it.” This was said with a toothy grin as a violent look entered her eyes, she had leaned in with the comment before she laughed and leaned back into her chair. “So, you’re a local I take it? What was it like to grow up on the famed Karate Island? Aside from being the 'cute' monkey boy all the local woman loved so much?” The last question was tossed in with a chuckle as she took another sip of her drink.