Lian, Miko of the Iron Fans
Disclaimer: Don't own One Piece.
"What's our status on the army attacking our home?" Zev asked as he, Murai, and Lian walked alongside each other, following the guard who interrupted their meal as Dusty followed behind them.
"We're holding their forces back, but it's proven difficult. Even though they're injured, the demons are putting up a good fight," the guard reported, "They're armed to the teeth and apparently they're being led by a lobster demon and a man with a giant axe,"
Dusty stopped in her tracks, "No way...,"
Lian, Murai and Zev looked back at her for a few moments before looking back at each other, sharing identical smiles.
"Dustine, I think it's time you prove your loyalty to the family...for the sake of your mother,"
The fox-girl lowered her head and bit her lip, Man...why'd you guys do this? Bad enough DJ-kun got hurt, why couldn't you just leave?
"Thirteen! Fourteen! Fifteen! Yeah, I'm loving this!"
Herman shook his head as Axe took out another large group of soldiers with a sweeping kick, No matter what, he loves fighting...
"Gah! Dammit!"
The Fishman turned to see Axe was stumbling back into the Fishman army ranks, a large cut on his chest.
"Captain!"
Axe looked down at his wound and grinned, "Oh, so some of them have seastone on their weapons, hm? Hehehe...this'll be fun!"
Herman rolled his eyes and ducked just in time to dodge a bisento, "Dammit...," he slugged the human hard in the face, sending him flying into another group of comrades, "They just keep coming!"
"Good! More to kill," a Fishman nearby roared, "Come and get it, humans! Come and see the strength of those you imprisoned!"
"Hey!" Herman grabbed the Fishman's arm and forced him around, "This isn't a frenzy for us, pal, this is just a fight to get back at those bastards! Don't go nuts!"
The Fishman snarled and wrenched his arm away from Herman, "Don't tell me what I can and can't do, human-lover! This is my fight as well as yours and I'll kill anyone who gets in my way!"
With that, the Fishman turned and began plowing through the group of soldiers, leaving Herman to only stare at the rage.
"I just hope these guys don't go back on their promise," Herman looked around at the angry Fishpeople and Merfolk around him, "...and slaughter innocents...," he shook his head, "If they do that, I'll put a stop to it myself,"
"We're in!" a Mermaid shouted, holding up a sword, "We've breached!"
The crowd of attackers cheered and cut down the rest of the armed forces that stood in their way before storming into the Wakanda palace. Axe followed suit, grinning madly as he cracked his knuckles yet again.
When they reached the first large room of the palace, they were met by three people who stood in the center of the room. The three of them were very different from the other guards they saw outside. Each of these were dressed in identical black armor and carried gleaming katanas.
"Intruders, we are the elite guards of the Wakanda Clan, trained personally by Masters Murai and Haschel. Why are you here?!"
"Feh," the Fishman from before, the one who snapped at Herman, stepped forward, "We're here to take your heads, humans!"
The three swordsmen pushed off the ground and sped past the entire group, darting from side to side as they did before coming to a stop behind them.
"Delta Strike!"
Axe turned and was immediately sprayed by gushing fountains of blood as the heads of just about every single ally they had fell to the ground. Herman, who had luckily been saved by his shell and his quick-thinking, stared in horror at what had just happened. Even the merfolk had been killed!
"You bastards!"
The three warriors turned to Herman and Axe, looking mildly surprised.
"You two are the only one's still standing," one of them observed.
The second one nodded, "Interesting,"
"Indeed," the third one agreed.
Axe smirked and pulled off his weapon from his back, "Herman, get out of here, it's going to get messy,"
"W-What?!" Herman turned and gawked at him, "Captain, they killed everyone but us-,"
"Yeah, so get out of here before they have another chance at you. I know you're strong Herman, and you have a good shell, but sooner or later, they could cut through it, so get out of here!"
"But-,"
Axe glared at him, "I'll handle these guys, go in and do some major damage to this place!"
Herman gulped, glanced at the three swordsmen, then nodded and started running deeper into the palace.
"Now," Axe began to spin his diamond weapon around, "Who wants first blood?!"
Zev and Murai walked down the empty hall of their palace home, Murai practically dragging Dusty along with them.
"They've got inside, brother,"
"It doesn't matter, Murai. Before this night is over, this little escapade will be over once and for all," Zev looked at the fox-girl, "Tonight, Dustine, you will see the fall of the enemies of the Wakanda clan and tomorrow, you will truly have a fresh start as a member of our family!"
Murai chuckled and yanked on Dusty's arm, making her yelp, "I can't wait to have a little fun, brother. My zanbato's crying out for blood of the enemy!"
"Be patient, brother," Zev shook his head, "Ladies first,"
Herman pushed a set of large doors open to find himself in a beautifully decorated room with ornate furniture and a large chandelier above him. Sitting in a large throne-like chair across from him, sipping a glass of wine, was a beautiful woman with long red hair.
The Fishman looked at her and frowned.
Lian set her drink down on the nearby table and crossed her legs, looking at the him.
"Good evening, my large friend," she greeted in a sickeningly sweet voice as a thunderclap boomed just outside the window, followed by a flash of lightning, "I am Lian Wakanda, the Lady of this island and this palace. Who are you?"
"Friends call me Herman," the lobsterman replied quickly, "I'm one of those Fishmen you and your friends knocked out and stuffed into a tank for some kind of freaky experiment!"
"Oh, so you're one of those," Lian smiled, "How was it?"
"The hell do you think?" Herman snapped, This woman...she's different from these soldiers...she's way stronger, I can feel it from here!
"So," Lian folded her hands together, "Are you here for revenge against what we've done to your kin, or to your nakama?"
Herman blinked, "Nakama...?"
"Oh, so you don't know? That stupid love-struck swordsman was killed by my husband and not to mention the fox-girl...,"
"DJ...was killed...?" Herman repeated slowly, clenching a fist, "What have you done with Dusty?!"
"Dustine," Lian corrected him, "That is her name now. She is a member of our family, a blood relative whose blood has been tainted by an outsider, but we've taken her in. She's one of us, and once this little attack against us is over, she will stay here until the day she dies, carrying on our bloodline by bearing as much heirs as her body could,"
Herman glared at her, "What?!"
"Oh, don't worry, she doesn't want to, but she's doing what she has to do in order to keep her mother alive,"
That was it.
Herman cracked his knuckles, I don't know what the story is behind Dusty's connection with this group of psychos, and frankly, I don't care. All I know is that this is bringing up a bad memory and I will not stand around for Dusty to suffer a fate similar to Nami.
"What is this, then?" Lian raised an eyebrow, "You are looking like you want to fight me for some reason,"
"You can say that,"
"Well, then, I'll humor you," Lian rose from her seat and pulled out two large fans from behind her back, "I should warn you, I'm not as harmless as I look,"
"You don't have to tell me that, I can feel it,"
"Oh, really? Well, see if you can feel this!" she spread her fans out, "Ba-ru-wan-shi-leo-hontara!"
She swung her fans outward and Herman was greatly surprised to see small arcs of purple light shoot forth from the fans. He was so taken back, he didn't move out of the way in time and the arcs hit him dead on.
Though small, the arcs were powerful enough to send the Fishman sliding back at least five feet as small cuts appeared on his body.
Dammit, what the hell was that!? Herman's hands went to his wounds, That was like some of Devon's and DJ's techniques, but they were also different...
"Surprised? I don't blame you," Lian said casually, lowering her fans, "I am Lian Wakanda of the Wakanda Clan of mikos from ancient times. My blood is holy blood, it's power given to me through my ancestors through the great goddess Inari,"
"Holy...blood?" Herman frowned, "So, that attack just used up some of your miko power, hm?"
"My, my, someone's a fast learner...,"
"I've been traveling around the world for a long time, nothing surprises me," Herman reached up and grabbed his shell, "Does this surprise you?" he asked moments before ripping his shell clean off his back.
Lian's face took on a disgusted expression, "What on earth are you doing?"
Herman split his shell in half and placed each one on one of his arms, "I'm giving myself some of your protection against that weird move you just pulled,"
"Is that so? Well, I think I should tell you that it's not just 'that weird move' I use against my enemies," Lian held up both her fans, "I use these up close as well!"
"You use fans...?" Herman asked slowly, "What the hell can fans do in a fight besides cool someone off?"
With amazing speed, Lian ran past him, "I'll show you...,"
Before Herman could even turn around to face her, his body was torn open and blood spewed from numerous wounds that suddenly appeared.
The Fishman gasped and staggered from the pain as Lian turned back around, both of her fans covered in blood.
"These fans are made of iron, Fish-freak, and they are as sharp as a katana!"
That explains that... Herman's hand shot to his mouth as he coughed blood, She's strong if she can hold up iron and use it like that, as well as move like she just did. I'm gonna have to be careful here...
"You should've just stayed in the fishtank. After all, that's where your kind belongs,"
Herman twisted his stalks around and glared at her, "Is that so...?"
"Indeed!" Lian held up her fans again, "Let's see if I can teach you your place without killing you...Rin-ku-pa-du-wa-qin-machuka,"
She swung her fans again, but instead of arcs of energy like last time, the two blades created what could only be described as a mini-tornado filled with multiple arcs of glowing miko power.
"Oh shit!"
"Well, that was slightly more entertaining than I thought,"
Axe cracked his neck as the last of so-called elite guards fell to the ground, dead. As he wiped his weapons clean of their blood, Axe heard a loud sound, like an explosion come from somewhere deeper into the palace.
"Herman, just what are you doing, going on a rampage or something?"
"Seems like Lian's letting loose. It's been sometime since that's happened," Murai observed, spinning his zanbato out of boredom, "Brother, I'm bored!"
"Be patient, Murai," Zev held up a hand, "These are not normal enemies we're dealing with, so you and just maybe myself will have some fun here," he turned to look at Dusty, who was looking very shaken, "Who knows, maybe Dustine will get a shot?"
Murai chuckled as the last group of soldiers of the palace joined them. He glared at them, "It's about damn time! You maggots are slow as hell, what took you so long?!"
"Sorry, Lord Murai!" the soldiers shouted at the same time, "But, we ran into trouble!"
"Trouble? What, you ran into the Fish demons?"
One of the soldiers opened his mouth to reply, but was cut off when a loud clacking sound was heard just outside the doorway.
"Oh shit!"
"Close the door, close the door!"
Murai and Zev watched silently as the soldiers became panicked and scrambled to shut the door to the room.
"What's going on?"
Lian giggled as Herman fell to the ground, bleeding like a stuck pig. Her twister technique had missed him the first time, but the second time she did it nailed him head on. The lobsterman suffered a lot more damage the second time around, and with fatigue and injuries from a few hours before still lingering, he didn't stand a chance.
The miko waved her fans around, flinging his blood around the finely decorated room, half of which was destroyed thanks to her first twister fan technique. She walked over to find that he wasn't dead yet, but severely wounded and still moving around. With a gleam of malice, she pressed her foot on the back of his neck.
"You and your friends are nothing but fools, coming here. I still can't believe that you actually delivered our brother's daughter to us. You practically just handed her over, and here you are, trying to take back your gift...that's so rude," she began to press harder on Herman's neck, "I was going to see if you'd be a good little fishy and go back into your tank, but since you decided to go against those who actually have a right to lock your kind up," she raised both her fans, "It seems that you're going back into the ocean as chum for the Sea Kings,"
"I don't think so, bitch!"
BOOM!
One of Lian's fans was suddenly knocked out of her hand. The female miko watched it clatter to the floor, covered in holes. Growling, she turned to see two women standing off to the side. One of them was easily recognized from the high bounty poster of 75,000,000 Beli, and the other one was another Axe-Head pirate. While the former held no weapon, the latter held a smoking shotgun in her hand.
"Back away from my nakama," Niri snapped, "Unless you wanna taste my boomstick,"
Lian glared at the two of them, "Criminals just seem attracted to my house tonight,"
"Like Axe and meat," Niri cracked, earning a smile from Carmen. She pulled back the hammer on her shotgun again and aimed it at Lian, "Back off from Herman...now,"
The miko looked at the two of them for a short time, then slowly removed her foot from Herman's neck.
"Good, now-,"
"Shin-po-kai-ro-kyo-mu-wi-chi-Zokyuko!" Lian swung her fans and unleashed a barrage of rather large arcs of glowing miko energy at the two of them.
Cursing, the two ex-Marines dove to the side to dodge the attack. They hit the floor and watched as the arcs cut through the wall easily, as if it was butter.
Niri looked at Carmen, "Any ideas?"
Carmen gawked at her, "You're asking me? Kid, I was following you!"
The two of them stared at each other as Lian picked up her second fan.
"How about I go get Herman and you take her?" Carmen suggested.
Niri shook her head, "Screw that!"
"Okay, how about you take her and I go get Herman?"
"Now, that works!" Niri said with a nod. It only took her a short moment to realize what she agreed to, but when she did, Carmen was already moving for the downed Fishman.
"Sonofabitch...!" she cursed, "I'm getting as dense and slow as Dusty!"
With that, she rose to her feet and grabbed her father's pistol with her other hand and started firing at Lian.
"Dun-bai-shi-zhao-ko-ro-ko-Jengmero,"
Niri watched as Lian's fans encircled her, and as they did, something that looked like a glowing barrier appeared around her. Each of the ex-Marine's bullets hit the barrier and either fell to the floor or ricocheted off into a wall or a piece of furniture.
"Oh come on!"
Lian's fans slowed down and she plucked them out of the air, "No matter what you try, no matter how you try to attack, I will always counter-attack and defend. There is no way to beat me, girl. You should learn to accept that now instead of the hard way like your fishy friend,"
Niri glanced at Herman, who was being looked after by Carmen.
"You know, DJ told me what's going on with Dusty and this island,"
Lian frowned, "What?"
"You heard me," Niri turned to her, "DJ, the kid that your husband stabbed...he's still alive,"
The miko scoffed, "Liar. I watched that boy get pummeled by Zev myself. There's no possible way he could've survived that,"
"Well, he did, and if you don't believe me, then that's your problem," Niri shot back, "He's back for a second round and this time, he will not go down,"
"Ha! Even if he did manage to survive Zev's onslaught, he can't do anything! He tried to beat Zev last time and look what happened! Even if he had a sword with him, he would've died anyway,"
"That's what you think," Niri smiled and tossed her guns to the side, "DJ's very stubborn, like so many other bakas I know in my crew. You can shoot him, you can stab and slice him, you can mock him, you can do anything and he'll just take it. If there's one thing I know, is that as long as there is a single breath in DJ's body, he will never give up," she cracked her knuckles, "As his nakama, we cannot give up either, especially when we fight for one of our own!"
Lian scoffed and shook her head, "Delusions...girl, your friend is dead, and Dustine is here to stay, so why don't you just-,"
Niri's foot connected with Lian's face, cutting the miko off mid-sentence. Lian was stunned that this brat was able to move fast enough to attack her without giving her a chance to defend herself.
"The only with delusions...," Niri shot a deathglare at her, "...is you!"
Off to the side, Carmen was watching the two of them as she took care of Herman.
I know that look in her eyes... Carmen smiled as a nostalgic feeling came across her, ...she looks just like him. Kick her ass, kid!
Axe wandered around the palace, his weapon hanging over his shoulder as his eyes darted from side to side.
"Where the hell is everyone?" he asked no one in particular, "I wanna have some fun...,".
As he whined and walked, Axe noticed something. He came to a halt, backed up, and turned to face it.
"Huh...what do we have here?"
"Do-,"
Wham
"...not-,"
Wham
"...screw-,"
Wham wham
"...with my nakama!"
Niri landed a hard roundhouse kick, forcing Lian to step back. The miko's face was a mess. What had once been a beautiful piece of work was now a piece of work that looked like it had been through a meatgrinder. Bruises and blood covered Lian's face while numerous cuts were carved into Niri's body, thanks to Lian's fans and her miko spells.
The two women glared at each other, breathing heavily as their blood dripped to the already messed up floor of the palace room.
"You know," Niri spit the blood out of her mouth, "You're good, for an obnoxious bitch. But, I've fought other people stronger than you, from a stronger place than this,"
Lian heaved, glaring daggers at her, "Just because you did all that, you think you're special?!"
Niri shrugged, "No...I already thought I was special," she gave the V sign, "So nya,"
"Compared to me," Lian lifted her iron fans, "Compared to those who share my blood, you're nothing special! You and that Fish over there," she jerked her head to Herman, who was still pretty much out of it, "You're nothing but freaks, all of you!"
Niri just stood there, unphased by the insult.
"Now, let's finish this!" Lian began waving her fans around like nothing before. As she did, the fans created a wind within the room as well as a collection of miko energy.
"Meet my pet," Lian grinned wickedly, "Go-ro-ka-me-zu-kin-don-ru-Samekato!!"
Both Niri and Carmen watched as the wind and the miko energy that Lian and her fans created grew to such as size, it almost filled the entire room. Niri covered her eyes as the wind blew her hair around.
What the hell is this?!
The energy and the wind merged together, further increasing it's size and after a time, it took a form, one that of a serpentine-shaped dragon. It reminded Niri very much of when Kirsty went all dragon back in Skypeia.
"Everything you've done...everything you hoped to accomplish...it was all pointless! Now, suffer at the power of my dragon!!" Lian pointed to Niri, "Devour her!"
The dragon roared and shot towards the pirate.
Oh shit...
The entire palace shook, startling the soldiers that were with Murai, Dusty and Zev. The zanbato user and his brother looked at each other and sighed.
"It's going to take months just to repair our home after tonight. Lian always did cause a lot of damage with that spell,"
"At least she's done,"
"Yes, at least she's done. Now," Murai paused as the clacking sound got louder, "What the hell is that?!"
When the dragon attacked, Carmen threw herself over Herman to guard him from any damage. Slowly, the master thief looked up and her jaw dropped when she saw that the entire wall separating the room and the outside was obliterated. Nothing was left, except rubble and debris.
Tired and drained, Lian slowly made her way to the edge of the hole. Nothing was left of the pirate girl who came to help her friend. Chuckling, Lian kicked a few pieces of debris over the edge.
"One fool down, two more to go," she muttered as she turned around.
BOOM!
Lian's torso was torn a new one as a close-range shrapnel blast ripped through her. The impact of the blast sent her flying backward, out of the palace, and onto the already body-filled grounds.
Niri lowered her shotgun, blood running her head, her shoulders heaving as she gasped for breath. She limped to the edge of the floor and looked down to see Lian laying still on the ground below, a pool of blood already forming around her.
"You survived that?!"
Niri turned to see Carmen staring at her. She grinned and holstered her shotgun, "I got very lucky...saw that thing coming and I saw a very small chance to dodge it. So, for better or for worse, I took the chance,"
Carmen shook her head, "You could've died!"
"Yeah, but hey, that's life. If you don't take a chance, it could make you regret it later,"
As Niri walked over to Herman to see how he was, Carmen stared at her like she had seen a ghost.
She has your luck, my old friend...are you watching out for her from Heaven or did you give her your luck?
"Hey, what's wrong?"
Carmen snapped out of her thoughts and realized Niri was looking at her. She shook her head, "Nothing, just still amazed you survived...what about her, though?"
Niri shrugged, "I've seen people come back from worse, she has a chance...I think,"
"Open that door!"
"But, my lords-,"
"I said open that door! NOW!"
The guards looked at each other, then reluctantly pulled the door open. Murai and Zev looked ahead to the empty hall in front of them. The clacking sound had stopped. Nothing but silence.
Murai laughed, "I can't believe you all got scared because of some stupid noise,"
"But Lord Murai, it wasn't just that! There was this song that-,"
"Yo-hohoho, Yo-hohoho,
Yo-hohoho, Yo-hohoho,
Yo-hohoho, Yo-hohoho,
Yo-hohoho, Yo-hohoho,
Going to deliver Bink's Sake!
Following the sea breeze!
Riding on the waves!
Far across the salty deeps!
The merry evening sun!
Painting circles in the sky!
as the Birds Sing
Farewell to the harbour,
To my old hometown
Lets all sing out with a Don!
As the ship sail
Waves of gold and silver
dissolve to salty spray
As we all set sail to
The ends of the sea
Going to deliver Bink's Sake!
We are pirates
Sailing through the Seas
The waves are our pillows
The ship our roost
Flying the proud Skull
On our flags and our sails
Now comes a storm
Through the far-off sky
Now the waves are dancing
Beat upon the drums
If you loose your nerve
This breath could be your last
But if you hold on,
The morning sun will rise...,"
"That's the song!" one of the guards shouted as the haunting song stopped, ceasing it's echoes in the hall, "We dunno where it's coming from! It must be a spirit!"
Dusty stared at the door and the hallway, her hands shaking.
DJ-kun...?
The song started again, only this time, it sounded much closer.
"Yo-hohoho, Yo-hohoho,
Yo-hohoho, Yo-hohoho,
Yo-hohoho, Yo-hohoho,
Yo-hohoho, Yo-hohoho,
Going to deliver Bink's Sake!
Today, tomorrow,
our dreams through the night!
Waving our goodbyes,
we'll never meet again!
But don't look down;
For at night the moon will rise
Yo-hohoho, Yo-hohoho,
Yo-hohoho, Yo-hohoho,
Yo-hohoho, Yo-hohoho,
Yo-hohoho, Yo-hohoho,
Going to deliver Bink's Sake!
Let's all sing it with a Don
A song of the waves
Doesn't matter who you are,
Someday you'll just be bones
Never-Ending, Ever-wandering,
Our funny Traveling tale!
Yo-hohoho, Yo-hohoho,
Yo-hohoho, Yo-hohoho,
Yo-hohoho, Yo-hohoho,
Yo-hohoho, Yo-hohoho,"
Zev growled and looked over his shoulder, "How are you still alive?!"
Dusty turned and her eyes went as wide as they could possibly go.
"I told you bastards...Dusty-chan will never be yours,"
Murai slowly turned around and picked up his zanbato, "Little bastard,"
"DJ-kun," Dusty's eyes began to water a bit, "Baka! Why'd you come back?!"
"Because, Dusty-chan, I love you with all my heart and we...I am not leaving without you!"
Kilnorc: Okay, the chapter is done! Now, I would like to say a few things before the preview. First off, Lian's spells? They were made and given to me by a friend so I have no clue what they mean, so don't ask! Secondly, the fight was iffy because I honestly wasn't sure how long either Niri or Herman could go against her and her miko ability so I did what I could. Hope ya'll liked the last shotgun blast, hehe. Don't worry, the last fights are better, trust me.
On the next chapter of Bloodline...
Zev: You look ridiculous...
DJ: Hey, these were a gift, so shut up!
Murai: That sword...it can't be Raikiri?! How did you-?
Dusty: DJ-kun, you can't keep doing this! Please, just leave while you can!
Dusty's Samurai
DJ: Let me fight for you, Dusty-chan...