Architao Island
The sun was high and bright in the sky. The day had been long and boring, but it seemed to have only begun. The crew was getting restless. Thus was the life of a pirate. There was always so much time in between adventures, just sailing from place to place. It was a drag, but it was a necessity. This was remedied only by camaraderie. The members of the Chaos Pirates had taken to playing games and such.
Halcen walked out from the door below deck and heard a growl from above him. He looked up.
Fein jumped down from the railing from the upper deck and tackled Halcen to the ground. "Rematch, bitch!"
"Oh, so the only way you can win is by sneaking up on me, huh?"
"You're just mad cause I outsmarted you."
Halcen began laughing. "You? Outsmart me? You're just a dumb dog." Halcen kicked Fein off of him and popped back up onto his feet.
"Shit."
"Oh yeah."
Fein swiped at Halcen's ribs.
Halcen pulled back and just missed Fein's reach. Then he jumped back in and punched Fein in the face.
Fein took the hit and was forced back. He felt his jaw. "Alright, I'll give you that one."
"Give me?" Halcen laughed. "I'd like to see you take anything."
"You're gonna regret that."
"Oh yeah?"
"Yeah." Fein took a second to look back to the bow of the boat. "What the fuck is that?" He stood upright and out of his stance.
Halcen looked behind him.
Fein charged.
Halcen dodged the attack and dropped Fein to the ground. "Did you really think I'd fall for that?"
Fein grumbled. "I guess not."
Halcen reached down his hand to help Fein up. "You done embarrassing yourself?"
Fein stood up by himself. "For now." He rubbed his head.
"Fair enough." Halcen looked over Fein. "Is this going to become a thing? Because if so, you're gonna need better tricks."
"Yeah well you know what they say about an old dog."
"They have shin splints?"
"What? No… They can't learn new tricks…"
"Why?"
"H-have you never heard that phrase?"
"No."
"What is wrong with you?"
Halcen shrugged. "Lots."
"Alright, alright." Fein changed the subject. "So what's the plan for today, Captain?" He said with a tone.
"Well other than teaching you a lesson on respecting your Captain, we should be getting to Architao today."
"Sweet."
Halcen looked down on the horizon. "And hopefully we'll pick up Shanks' trail there. I'm sure he's moved on by now. But we're going to find out where he headed. We'll ask around and find out everything we can. It's not a huge island. Someone will have information on him."
"Sounds good," Fein said, drinking some water out of a bottle.
"Doesn't your kind drink out of a bowl?"
"HA-HA-HA," Fein feigned laughter.
Halcen chuckled to himself. Then he looked off in the distance. "Wait… I think that's it."
"Hmmm?"
Halcen rushed off and climbed up the mast to the crow's nest with enthusiasm. He pulled out his telescope and began glazing over the horizon. And there it was. At first all he could see was forestry, but then he caught sight of smoke, lots of it. "What the-?" He looked down at his crew. "LAND HO!" he shouted.
"We've finally made it Captain?" Morkine asked.
"Dead ahead! Architao Island!" He went back to looking through his monocular. "Something's wrong," he said to himself. "I see smoke!" he shouted down
"Maybe a campfire?!" Kazuki said.
"Not this much!" Halcen couldn't see anything else beyond the smoke. He climbed down to gather the crew and lay out a plan. "There's definitely something wrong. So we're going to go in extremely cautiously. There's bound to be trouble."
As they pulled closer, the rest of them could see the smoke. It was a fairly large amount for such a small island. Something dreadful had happened here. But they had no idea what.
Grey felt a chill looking at the island. "It feels like Death."
Halcen looked to Grey. "Do you think something happened to Shanks?"
"I hope not."
"Let's get ready to make shore. Jory! Morkine! Get us up there!"
Jory and Morkine went about readying the Black Tail for its docking on the island. It wasn't a difficult job with a smaller ship as it was. "Where do we want to land, Captain?" Morkine asked.
"Well considering the smoke and the imminent threat that dictates, we ought to avoid any actual docks. Let's find a place we can shore up and weigh anchor around the south side."
"Yes, Captain." Morkine brought them around the southern center of the island and found a muddy area where they could easily come ashore on feet. They weighed anchor and everyone began to get ready for their departure.
Halcen had to make the call. "Jin, Morkine, Jory," I need you guys to stay here. If we run into trouble, we'll call for help. Let us find a safe place, make a plan, then I'll send Fein for you."
"Awe, man," Jory complained. "I always get left out of the good stuff."
"Be thankful, kid," Bo said. "It's not as glorious as it's cracked up to be."
"I seriously doubt that."
"I'm fine with staying back," Jin said. "I wouldn't be any help anyway."
"That's true," Fein said. "You're a better support than a fighter."
Jin rolled his eyes. "Just don't get yourselves killed out there."
"Let's go guys," Halcen said.
They all disembarked from the ship and waded through the shallow water until they climbed the mud into the actual woodsy environment of the island.
As soon as Grey stepped foot onto the land, he sensed something very powerful. "I can feel him," Grey said.
"Who?" Halcen asked.
"Shanks. He's here, on the island."
Halcen attempted to use his own Observation Haki, but all he got was blurring vibes. Nothing stood out to him. "You can tell from all the way back here?"
Grey nodded his head. "Trust me, he's here."
Halcen did trust Grey. As of late, he had been right about a lot of things. He needed to put faith in Grey. "Alright. That's good. Him still being here saves us a whole lot of hassle. Let's go find him."
The six of them began to proceed through the forest. They could hear all kinds of animal noises, mostly cries of panic. They knew something was wrong on their island. But they had nowhere to run or hide. They were out of land to escape to. Maybe they could sense what Grey could.
"You think my brother's here?" Bo asked.
"Most likely," Kazuki answered. "He is part of Shanks' crew."
"Grey, can you tell if there's anybody else with him?" Bo asked.
"No. It's hard enough sensing Shanks himself through all this death. I can't tell how many others are with him. But Shanks has a very unique energy. It's hard to miss."
"Let's keep moving," Halcen said. "We're bound to find answers the further in we get."
"We're on the right path," Grey said.
"Oh, God," Fein sad gagging.
Shira whined and tried to clear her snout.
"What's wrong?" Halcen asked.
"What Grey said was right. This place is full of death. We can smell it from here. And it's only gonna get worse the closer we get."
"Shit. You alright?"
"Yeah, it's just… it's overwhelming. It's hard to focus."
They waded through the woods cautiously. They had already come upon too many surprises along their journey thus far. They were sick of it. They wanted to be able to see everything coming from a mile away. But with Fein, Shira, and Grey's senses being overloaded; Bo and Kazuki being unable to see past the clustered trees; it was down to Halcen to handle the charge.
They finally made it out of the woods and everything around them became clear. They could see the sun and ahead of them for more than ten feet. They came upon what looked like civilized land. They looked about to see about a dozen giant white stone buildings of ancient design. The structures were about five to seven floors a piece and five hundred feet wide. They were clearly very thoughtfully designed, but they had long since been abandoned. Halcen wondered why.
As they moved past the ruins, Halcen and the others began to smell the stench Fein and Shira had this whole time.
"Oh my God, what is that?"
"Rotting corpses," Bo said. He'd been around it before. A Marine's life was full of those kinds of experiences.
"Something burning," Kazuki said.
And there, they finally discovered the origin of the smoke. There was a whole village of little wooden houses, and most of them were on fire. And in the middle of the dirty street was a giant pile of bodies, burning. The black smoke suffocated the scene.
"Oh my God."
Fein bent over and puked.
"Holy shit," Halcen said. "Are you gonna be okay?"
"It's just… a lot."
Shira gagged as well.
"Do I need to send you two back?"
Fein wiped his mouth and shook his head. "No, we need to go on. I need to be here when we find a place to bring the other's to safety."
"Good boy."
Fein growled.
"You're going to experience a lot of fucked up things traveling the seas," Halcen said. "Being a pirate isn't for everyone. It changes you. You're gonna need to get used to this stuff."
Fein nodded. "I'll be fine," he said with strained voice.
They continued on. The more they explored, the more it seemed like there wasn't anybody living in the area.
"What the hell happened here?"
"It looks like a massive battle."
"Whoever these guys were, they were armed to the teeth," Kazuki said.
Halcen took a second look. He was right. The bodies in the pile were all covered in leather armor. And there was a pile of weaponry set to the side; mostly axes and swords and whatnot. He looked around the area to see several cannons set up all over the place, some thrown off their sides. The buildings were pockmarked with cannon fire. These guys had been in a huge fight… and lost. Whoever they'd gone up against had been more powerful than they had expected.
"Well fuck," Halcen said.
"Do you think Shanks did all this?" Bo asked.
"It seems likely," Kazuki said.
"So question," Fein said.
"If these guys lost the fight, who's burning the bodies?"
"Hmmm…"
"It doesn't make sense. I mean, if we were to kill a bunch of people, why would we take the time to pile them all together and burn them?"
"I don't think Shanks would go out of his way for something like that," Grey said.
"So who did it?"
"I did," came a gruff voice from the end of the road.
Their crew turned to see a beast standing at the end of the road. It was about ten feet tall, slender, with white fur. It had long brown horns coming from its head and hooves. It stalked towards them.
"What is this? Another Zoan?" Halcen asked.
"That's right," the beast claimed. "I ate the Goat Goat fruit. I'm a goat man." He had a very thick accent.
"Gross," Halcen said. "And who are you?"
"Oh how rude of me," the goat man said. "My name is Bavbroch, and I am the remaining leader of the Milkovich Bandits."
"What are you doing here?"
"I came here with my crew to ravage this island. We came because it was supposed to house an ancient treasure. But when we got here, we found that it was nothing but a standing stone with scribbles."
"The Poneglyph," Halcen whispered to himself.
"And when we found out, we went to town on the townsfolk to steal all their stuff," he began to laugh. "Come to find out, that 'treasure' attracted the likes of some pretty powerful pirates. We were in battle for weeks. Until they finally wiped the rest of our crew out."
It was only then that the crew realized they were surrounded. There were a dozen more men of normal physique and stature walking towards them from their hiding places about the scene.
"Oh shit," Halcen said. "It's a setup. I should have fucking known." This is the perfect place for it. We can't see, smell, or use Observation Haki. This motherfucker had every advantage… except one.
"And who are you?" the beast asked.
"We came to find Shanks," Halcen said.
"Shanks? Are you friends of his?" the goat man asked.
Halcen looked to Grey. "Kind of."
"He's the one the murdered our leaders and the rest of our crew," growled. "Maybe I ought to do the same to you. Show him how much it hurts."
"Dude," Halcen sighed. "You really don't want to do that."
"Oh I think I do." He knelt down and readied himself into an aggressive stance. He looked at Halcen with happy eyes. He was ready to enjoy whatever it was he thought he was going to accomplish here.
Halcen stepped forward from the rest of his crew. He needed to handle this solo. That was something Grey was right about. He had to be strong enough to handle the stronger opponents by himself. He let his crew alone to handle the ambushing bandits. He knew he would come back without a scratch on them.
Bavbroch launched himself high into the air. His goat legs allowed for some interesting amplifications.
Halcen's green eyes followed him closely.
The goat came back down with horns aimed directly at Halcen. He was coming down like a rocket.
The moment he would have devastated Halcen was the exact moment Halcen's Haki kicked in. His right forearm raised into the air above his head and he didn't move an inch. His Haki held, but Bavbroch's launch was strong enough to push Halcen down into the dirt. The ground exploded with dirt, but Halcen didn't even wince. He kept his eyes locked on Bavbroch with a smile.
Bavbroch's smile faded as soon as he saw the black Haki coating Halcen's body.
Halcen swung his right arm with all his strength and shoved the beast back through the air.
Bavbroch did a summersault in the air then landed on his legs. "What the fuck?"
"Oh?" Halcen laughed. "Weren't you expecting that?"
"What the hell is this?"
Halcen chuckled. "Do you really think I'm going to explain my powers? Unlike you idiotic Devil Fruit users, I'm not dumb enough to go around announcing what my powers are."
"We Devil Fruit users are the strongest warriors. We boast our abilities because we know nobody can beat us."
"You mean like how Shanks couldn't beat you?"
"Shanks and I never fought one on one," Bavbroch spat.
"Unlucky for you," Halcen laughed. "If he had killed you, you wouldn't be stuck here facing me."
Bavbroch laughed. "You mean you're stuck with me." Then Bavbroch charged forward. He came running like a freight train. His large horns came for Halcen's chest.
Halcen held his ground. He grabbed Bavbroch by the horns and stopped his charge.
Bavbroch flung his legs against the ground, breaking Halcen's grip and smashed his head into Halcen's chest, flinging the pirate Captain off to the side.
Halcen fell to the ground with a thud. "Motherfucker." He got himself back up. "Alright, bitch, let's do this."
Bavbroch didn't give Halcen enough time to steady himself. He rushed him again.
Halcen reached out to grab Bavbroch, but the goat bounced off the ground, and dove to the side, then hit the other side, and launched himself into Halcen's back, knocking the man to the ground again.
Halcen tuned over and wrapped his legs around his neck. And then he pulled his knife and stabbed the beast in the neck. Blood quickly stained his white fur. Halcen fell back to the ground as Bavbroch struggled to breathe. That ought to do it.
"You fucking pirate," Bavbroch stuttered as he slapped his hand to his throat, trying to keep the bleeding to a minimum.
Halcen stood up and pulled his pistol. "I'm gonna put you down like the animal you are."
Bavbroch's eyes went wide in fear. "Oh, fuck." He bounded off as quickly as he could, his body taking giant strides as he held his neck tightly to keep as little blood escaping as possible.
Halcen let a shot out but it whizzed past the goat man. "Dammit." Halcen went to run after him. "Come back, we were just starting to have fun."
Bavbroch ran through the torn up town and headed to the docks, where his bandit crew's dinghies waited. He was readying one to escape on when Halcen caught up to him.
"I'm sick of you Zoan assholes thinking you can do what you want and just get away with it," Halcen cursed. He pulled his pistol once more.
Bavbroch was moving quickly. "Please don't."
Halcen released a gunshot and missed any vitals. He hit the goat man in the left thigh. "Just die already! Fucking animal."
"Shit!" Bavbroch shouted in pain. He pushed his boat off into the water and jumped in with nothing but himself. He quickly began sailing off across the water, toward his crew's main ship, that sat out on the water.
Halcen was intent on chasing him down. I'll just grab another one of these little boats and go after him. There were about six of the dinghies all together in Architao's dock. Halcen went to get on one, when he noticed all the loot sitting, packed in the boats. "What the hell?"
He looked around the area, seeing that they had left all their supplies and treasure they had gathered from their pillaging of the island in their rafts. It looked like they had meant to begin transporting it back to their ship. He looked out to see their ship out in the waters a little ways. It was too large to bring up this close to the smaller island. But the Black Tail would have been able to make it much closer. Halcen began to rummage through their treasure. There was plenty of coin and a few jewels, some food and drinks. But what drew Halcen's attention was this small plain-looking wooden box sitting all by itself. It was about ten inches wide and a little less deep. He picked up the box and opened it to find a Devil Fruit. It looked like a large lime green raspberry, but it was about the size of a cantaloupe. It had small green berries covering its flesh. Halcen looked at it with excitement.
Then he looked up at the escaping Bavbroch, and for a moment, Halcen almost went after him.
"I think you can let him escape," Grey said.
Halcen turned around to see his first mate standing behind him, gazing out over the horizon. The rest of the crew pulled up behind him.
"You've won the fight," the old man said.
Halcen scoffed. "Yeah, I guess." He looked down at the treasure. "We'll let him limp away. This time. We got more than enough out of this fight." He looked to Fein. "Fein."
"Yeah?"
"We've cleared a safe landing space for the Black Tail. Do you think you can handle going back and guiding the other's over here?"
"Roger that." Fein turned around and took off through the destroyed town back toward the woods, with Shira tagging along for the run.
Halcen turned back to look at his reward. "It just keeps getting better."
