Pirates!

Wine Island Part 5

Battles in the Forest


All was still around Chris and her group as they stood amongst the trees in the dense forest. After the explosion of the last arrow, all assault seemed to stop, which immediately struck the group as peculiar. They moved away from each other; the last thing they wanted was to be cornered; and readied themselves for a fight.

Chris held her Crescent Dagger firmly in one hand, her injured hand limp at her side. The makeshift bandage she'd wrapped around it was already drenched, and blood was now dripping down her fingers into a small puddle beneath her. Zugai drew his sword quickly and held it in front of him with both hands, all senses alert, his bones hardened to their strongest density. Blue held his shotgun diagonally in front of him with both hands, eyes searching the trees for the enemy with a finger on the trigger.

Aven extended a hand forward, palm open and facing in front of her. "Weapon Tricks," she said calmly. "Bow!" Immediately, a large metal bow materialized, hovering in front of her hand. She took hold of it and spun it briefly before grabbing the bow string with her other hand. "Arrow," She said, and as she pulled back the string, a metal arrow, similar to the one she'd been holding moments before, materialized.

Chris stared at it and couldn't conceal her excited smile. "Hey, does it really work?" she asked with enthusiastic curiosity. Nearby, Zugai grinned as well, and even Blue cracked a smile. Aven looked at her and blinked, the serious atmosphere shifting into a much lighter one.

"Well…" before she could say another word, a round metal ball attached to a chain wrapped around the arm holding the arrow from behind and was tugged back. Aven gasped in surprise, the distraction causing her weapon to lose its solidity. Her hand phased through it before it disappeared, leaving her un-armed. She turned around quickly and tugged at the chain, trying to get it off.

"Watch out!" Chris shouted. Aven looked up in time to see a man clad in black rushing toward her, a Kama attached to the other end of the chain held firmly in one hand and drawn back to strike. He swiped down with the weapon and Aven closed her eyes, waiting for the piercing pain. Instead, however, the sound of metal clashing echoed in her ears and she opened her eyes.

Chris stood in front of her, the Crescent Dagger held up against the blade of the kama. One foot was elevated and pressed against the assailant's chest, keeping him at bay. "Sorry, I didn't know we were in Ninja country," she said. The man didn't respond, but rather jumped back. The chain unraveled itself from Aven's arm and returned, spinning into the man's free hand. "I've never seen a weapon like this before," Chris admitted. "What the hell is it?"

"It's a Kusarigama," Blue said suddenly. His rifle was aimed at the man with the spinning weapon, finger hovering over the trigger. "Wielders of this weapon use the chain to bind or incapacitate their enemies, then strike with the sharp sickle at the opposite end,"

Chris tilted her head upon hearing the explanation. "Sounds like too much work for my liking," She muttered. Then, she grinned. "Well, you're in way over your head! There's no way a ninja can beat a pirate!"

"Don't get too cocky, pirate," a familiar female's voice said. Behind the group, the ninja fell to his knees, his head bowed low to the ground, and a second person clad in similar clothing followed suit directly next to him. Aven froze on the spot as the three pirates turned calmly in the direction of the speaker. The illusionist closed her eyes and took a deep breath. It's not her. It can't be her. Slowly, she turned to face the girl who'd spoken and opened her eyes. They widened instantly.

Standing near a tree was a girl with shoulder length brown hair, a bow aimed carefully in Aven's direction with an iron arrow loaded on the string. "Sophie…" Aven muttered, surprised. A moment later, a black haired boy, about the same age as Sophie stepped out, holding a different bow in his hands. The arrow loaded into this weapon had a red tip, and in the quiver on his back, there were multiple others, tipped with different colors. "You too, Wyatt?"

"Wait a second, I'm confused," Zugai said suddenly. "What the hell is going on here? Aren't these two your Nakama?" he nodded toward Sophie and Wyatt, who didn't so much as glance in his direction.

"I… what…" Aven tried. She stopped when her words didn't work, closed her eyes and bit her lip. Focus. Relax. She opened her eyes. "What's going on here, guys?" she asked. She took a step forward and immediately, the two released their arrows. Were it not for the quick gust of wind Blue sent in her direction, they would have impaled her. Wyatt's arrow exploded upon coming in contact with a solid surface nearby.

"I know you're not that stupid, big sis," Sophie said calmly. She loaded another arrow with such a natural fluid motion that Chris would have missed it if she would have so much as blinked. The boy did the same, though he was much more clumsy. Chris turned her attention to Aven, who was standing stock still with a confused, hurt look on her face.

"You've had a bounty since you came to this island, big sis," Wyatt said calmly. "Sophie and I, being a part of the Tribe, well we had to get you eventually," he frowned slightly. "After a while, we didn't want to, but with the Crescent Dagger Pirates here as well, we may as well kill two birds with one stone,"

Beside him, Sophie coughed indignantly and he muttered a light, "No offense," in her direction. Aven found herself unable to speak. "So you and Sophie… and Logan and Charlie too?"

Another arrow shot by, though this one managed to leave a thin cut on the side of Aven's cheek. "Enough talk," Sophie said. She held the bow loosely in one hand now, her free hand opening and closing as the muscles within began to shift. Before their eyes, she transformed into a strange looking, pigeon-human hybrid. Feathers appeared on her bare skin and her dress stretched to accommodate her new form.

"Chris," Aven said suddenly. "Zugai, Blue, I need you to do me a favor," at once, the three pirates looked at Aven briefly. "Go on ahead, please? Find Charlie and Logan. I'll take care of these two," Chris turned in place to look at her, her green eyes narrowed slightly.

"We're not leaving you alone with psycho ninja and two archers," she said indignantly. "Blue,"

"Roger that, Captain," Blue said. He walked forward and stood beside Aven, facing the two still bowing ninja.

"Alright then, with that done, Zugai, let's go get Charlie," Chris added. Without a word, she started running. Zugai followed beside her, a hand on his sword.

"Where do you think you're going? Jiro, Kaisa!" Sophie called to the two ninja. The jumped to their feet and with lightning speed, bounded toward the two running pirates.

"Animal Tricks," Aven began, lifting her hands. "Bats!" There was a sudden screeching sound and an enormous group of bats flew down from the trees on the ninja's, stopping them in their tracks. The one from before, Jiro, swung the weight of his Kusarigama and each hit destroyed a bat, while the second, Kaisa, swiped with small kunai knives.

"I've got to do everything myself," Sophie snarled. She took a running start after the pirates, then flapped her large wings to get into the air. She flew in a circle, then, dove down toward Chris and Zugai. "You're not going to escape!" she warned.

That was when she felt something collide with her side; what felt like a large rock, and it knocked her off course slightly. She struggled to remain airborn for a few seconds before the thing that hit her suddenly exploded.

With a shout, she fell, crashing to the ground with a loud thump. "Sophie!" Wyatt yelled. He turned furiously toward the culprit, Blue, who stood with his rifle extended. "You jerk, you'll pay for doing that!" He loaded his bow and fired a red tipped arrow in Blue's direction.

Blue didn't even look at the oncoming arrow, but rather faded away into his element and disappeared, gun and all. Wyatt's eyes narrowed suspiciously and he reloaded his bow with another arrow, this one with a blue tip. He looked around intently. "Sophie!" he called.

"I'm fine…" Sophie answered. She was rising to her feet, back in her human form and holding her side tightly. "I'm not an officer for nothing. I'll take more then just that to get me down,"

(--)

"Tricks: Vines!" Aven called, holding her hands out toward the Ninja. They were subordinates, they'd be relatively easy to defeat, as opposed to Sophie and Wyatt ,who Aven knew were skilled fighters. She'd be best off getting rid of the soldiers before tackling the leaders. From beneath the oncoming ninja, vines appeared, tripping them and sending them sprawling to the ground.

"Wind Wings," Blue's voice suddenly said. He materialized beside the ninja, lifting them up with a light gust of wind and knocking them together against a tree. "I think one of your illusions should be able to finish things off, Aven," he told her.

Aven nodded in determination and held out her hands toward the ninja, who were struggling to push away from the tree. The gust of wind holding them there kept them at bay. "Weapon Tricks: Giant Hammer!" Aven shouted.

In her extended hand, an enormous hammer appeared with the words '5 Ton' written on the metal head. She took hold of the heavy object with both hands and swung it at the two Ninja. "Take this!" she yelled. The hammer slammed into the two, sending them through the trunk of the tree and flying into the midst of the forest. The hammer faded as the tree slowly began to fall.

Blue looked at her and raised a brow. "Nice," he complimented with a small smile. Aven rubbed the back of her head slightly with an embarrassed smile.

"Ehehe, thanks," She said. And then, suddenly, she collapsed, falling forward onto the dirt ground. Blue's eyes widened in surprise and he jumped over the fallen tree toward her.

"Hey, you ok?" he asked her, kneeling and shaking her shoulder. He rolled her onto her back and was surprised to see her smiling, breathing softly, even snoring lightly. He froze on the spot and stared. "You're not… sleeping are you?" he asked uncertainly. He started shaking her again. "Hey, bad time, wake up, kid!"

A light prick on the side of his neck made him hiss in sudden pain and he lifted a hand to it. A sharp, metal object was lodged into his neck and carefully, he pulled it out: a needle, similar to the ones Aya used. But something was different… he stared at the needle for several moment and his eyes widened.

Dripping from the end was a clear liquid. "What the hell…?" he asked himself uncertainly. Then it hit him. Poison. He stood up and held out his rifle, his sharp eyes looking around carefully.

From his right, as well as his left, the two ninja's reappeared, and coming from his front and rear were Wyatt and Sophie. His eyes narrowed and he tightened his grip on his rifle. It wouldn't do him any good with four different targets.

Instead he slung the rifle over his shoulder using the shoulder strap and spun in place for a few seconds until a light cyclone formed. "Thousand Piercing Devil!" he shouted. The cyclone picked up dirt and rocks and twigs from the ground, becoming a dust devil, and released the objects to the opponents. Blue crouched down over Aven to protect her from the potentially dangerous attack.

The two ninja were knocked down by large rocks that slammed into the sides of their heads and twigs that cut into their bodies, but Sophie and Wyatt continued forward, bows loaded.

Blue tried to focus on his next attack, but found that he couldn't. He was starting to get tired now, dizzy. "Damn it… Aven, come on!" he snarled angrily. "Of all the stupid moments, wake up!"

"Ready!" Sophie and Wyatt called simultaneously. "They pulled back the strings, preparing the strike. It was at that moment that Aven opened her eyes. "Explosion!"

Blue did the first thing he could think of. He grabbed hold of Aven's arm and hauled her to her feet, then, using all of his strength, he threw her. He managed to move in time to avoid the two arrows, which crashed into each other and exploded. The force of the blast knocked Blue forward, spinning into a large tree before he collapsed to his knees.

There was a small stream of blood flowing down the side of his face from his forehead and the blast had left him burns on his arms. His breathing was heavy as he struggled dizzily to his feet. Sophie and Wyatt stood several yards away, arrows loaded and ready.

"You look tired," Wyatt called with a small smile. "Guess the poison's starting to catch up with you,"

"Don't worry, it won't kill you," Sophie added. "It's just a sedative. But if you fight it too much, it might leave you with some nasty side effects. You're best off just giving up,"

Blue scowled at the two children. They've got a point… if it weren't for the poison, they'd already be down for the count, but I've got a handicap. He loaded his rifle with a large bullet and aimed it at the two. I got careless…

"Blue!" Aven called suddenly. She was quite a distance away from when she'd been thrown and was staring at Blue nervously. Blue glanced at her briefly, his expression serious.

"Get going!" he called. "Don't worry about me, I'll only slow you down. Catch up with Chris and Zugai!" We've underestimated these guys.

"But— "

"We'll end up in the same place, now GO!" Blue ordered. Then, he pulled the trigger. The enormous bullet shot out, but rather then firing toward the two bounty hunters, it exploded in an enormous flash of light. Aven had to cover her eyes against the intense light and hesitantly, she stepped back.

"Illusion Tricks: Chameleon!" Aven said. As she turned away, her body seemed to change color to match with her surroundings. The only evidence that she was even there was the rustle of leaves as she ran.

Wyatt and Sophie opened their eyes as the bright light faded and stared at Blue, now lying facedown on the ground. Sophie stepped forward cautiously and nudged him onto his back with a foot.

Blue's eyes were closed peacefully, his breathing heavy from the fatigue of fighting the sedative, but none the less, he was out. She nodded toward Wyatt, who stepped forward, placing the bow in his mouth and suddenly changing shape. His hands became paws, black fur growing on his visible skin, and he increased in size into a Black Bear- Human Hybrid. He grabbed Blue and slung him over his shoulder, then picked up the rifle.

"The others got away," Wyatt said through the bow in his mouth.

"It's fine," Sopie answered. She changed into her animal form, the small pigeon, and flew up onto Wyatt's back. "They're going straight toward Alexa, and I'm certain that the others are on their way also," She looked at the unconscious Blue. "How these Pirates got their bounties, I'll never know. This one was supposed to be the oldest and we beat him without difficulty."

"That's because we're the Tribe," Wyatt explained calmly. Sophie nodded.

"I'll go report to Alexa. I'll meet you at base," she said. Then, she jumped off Wyatt's shoulder and flew off. Wyatt watched her for a few moments before looking at Blue with a small frown.

"Sorry about this, mister," he said to the unconscious pirate as he started forward.

(--)

Zugai and Chris ran quickly up the hill toward the cliff side above. Neither had spoken a word to each other during their track, but merely ran as fast as they could. Zugai grabbed hold of the Seeker around his neck and opened it, gazing at the ever moving arrow, then stopped. Chris stopped several paces ahead of him and looked back. "What's wrong?" she asked.

"Gonzo…" Zugai muttered, turning to look in the direction they'd just come. "He's coming this way… something must have happened,"

"You think they got the others?" Chris asked Zugai uncertainly.

"I don't see any other reason for him to be coming if they didn't," Zugai answered. He looked ahead. They still had a while to go.

"Then let's get moving," Chris said, trying to remain calm. She was only able to take a single step when she felt him grab her hand and pull her back. "What are you…" she stopped as a wave of nausea washed over her and she found herself struggling to remain standing, "…doing?"

"Relax," Zugai said, pulling her onto his back securely. "I lightened your bones to make you lighter, we'll move faster like this," he explained. "You feeling ok?"

"Honestly, no," Chris answered.

"It's alright, nausea is a side effect if you're not used to it,"

"You're not lightening your own bones too, are you?" Chris asked uncertainly. Zugai looked at her over his shoulder and flashed her an innocent smile. Chris' eyes widened. "Ok, this is dangerous! What if you crash into something?" She asked.

"Are you scared?" Zugai asked her. Chris straightened up and shook her head indignantly, though she wished she hadn't afterward, as the world began spinning.

"Of course I'm not!" Chris answered. "I'm not afraid of anything! I'm concerned about the well being of my first mate is all,"

"Yeah, yeah," Zugai said, rolling his eyes. "Just hold on tight," and then, with impossible speed, he ran forward. Chris reflexively wrapped her arms around his neck, holding on as tight as she could to avoid falling. It was fun, without a doubt, but the nausea was overcoming her enjoyment. Zugai, meanwhile, couldn't hold back his grin.

(--)

"There was recently a fight here," Jae said, stopping beside a knocked down tree. He examined the trunk briefly, then looked around.

"I can smell the blood…" Gonzo said with a frown. He walked toward the two dead ninja, bleeding from large gashes in the sides of their heads, and frowned. "I'm not sure who won and who didn't, but some of the blood smells familiar…"

"Well, whatever it was, we're too late," Jae said unhappily. He stared forward again. "We've got to move on, Gonzo-kun. Whoever is still standing may need our help." He frowned and stopped. "It's easy to misjudge your mortality when you're with Chris, isn't it?" Jae asked. "She's so fearless, jumping in to the most dangerous situations, and we follow and always make it out," Gonzo glanced at Jae curiously and Jae looked at him, clenching his fists at his sides. "I'm not too confident that we'll make it out of this one, Gonzo-kun,"

Gonzo smiled softly and walked toward Jae. "Don't say such stupid things," he said, crossing his arms. "We're the Crescent Dagger Pirates. Our journey has just began and we have too much to accomplish to be knocked out of the game this early. If Chris heard you doubting your own strength, your Nakama, she'd kill you herself.

"The game is never over until every one of us is dead, and I'll be damned if I let that happen, so snap out of it, you hear me?"

Jae managed a smile, confident now, and nodded. "Good," Gonzo said. "Now, let's keep moving!" that said, he charged forward.

"Yosh!" Jae answered, following after him.


A/N: Phew, there it is. So I've got an idea planned out for the next arc, but it may be a little weird and I probably won't do it until I get the idea developed further. This arc is almost over, I think unless the characters decide to twist my mind up on me and make it longer then they originally planned… This chapter changed around a LOT… Well, I guess I'll tell you not to forget to review! See ya (hopefully) soon!

SNE121