An: it does get a bit graphic at one point when she's cauterizing a wound so forewarning for that. Also: turns out I've forgotten she had glasses and was supposed to be near sighted sooo… going to go back and edit the first few chapters to remove that bit of info. She's got normal sight.
POV: Captain Loran Swan
Things had not gone according to plan. The plan, if the buffoons who'd supposedly allied themselves with her, was for that stupid Hound dog to sneak in with his smaller ship to take out the watch and secure the deck. Then, as her crew attacked from one side, the imbecile Penguins would send in long boats under the cover of the rain and dark to attack unseen from the other. It was supposed to be an easy target with rich rewards. A bank operative plus rich merchant with only a moderately trained crew and no marines close enough to help if they got a denden call off.
And yet somehow, the tall brunette's green eyes narrowed here as she took in the situation, there were no other pirates in sight, most of her crew had been taken out by an odd unseen force, and there were passengers on board who were quite dangerous. It was like everything that could have gone wrong had and she wasn't sure who to blame and punish for this disaster. The only silver lining was the odd force that had reduced her crew to foaming unconscious bodies had affected the other crew as well so she still had a slight numbers advantage.
Her sharp eyes noticed a figure pausing at the edge of the light, hanging off the ships edge for a moment before pulling themselves up. At first she thought it finally the stupid Penguins but no. They were all male and wore fancy black and white tuxedo like outfits while this was a tall female in loose pants and tank top. Tall, dark skinned and exhausted… who could you be? She wondered as she glared at the other female. The way she held herself was that of someone who'd been in a long fight. Is she the reason why this is taking too much effort? Loran Swan's eyes narrowed as she changed up her plan; she'd found the one to punish for this failure.
"Mito." She growled out to a man nearby with a long rifle. "Stay on board with a few people and snipe them out. Yakoto you go for that Captain and Larop you take on that tall older man…. He seems to be the most dangerous out of who are left."
"What about you, Capt'n?" Her first mate Yakoto, a broad bald man covered in scars and tattoos, asked curiously as the others moved to obey.
"I'm going straight for the tall wench coming in from the back—she came from where the idiot Penguins were supposed to be. She either took them out or drove them off. Anyone who could do that is a threat."
"Aye aye." Yakoto tightened his metal reinforced fighting gloves before preparing to leap across.
Change POV: Back to Jasmine.
I hurt. Sure the wounds aren't really bleeding anymore but they throb and ache continuously. Even the week old wound to my thigh is acting up! And there's still one last fight to do. Apparently leveling wasn't a cure all because the exhaustion from fighting was still lingering in my veins and weighing my limbs down! I was exhausted: there was no way around it. Despite the game like aspects of who I was I was still human, still alive. It made me oddly glad though frankly the timing on finding this out was bad.
I had to pause and let my muscles rest just a bit before I finished hauling myself up onto the Casanova's deck. As I paused I looked over to see what had happened so far. I saw a lot of fallen bodies except… I glanced at the event tracker. No notices so far about failing that special. Were they dead or not? And what had been that wave of force?
Questions for later and I hope someone had an answer! I finished hauling myself up and walked slowly over towards the small group of upright people. They were, I noted with amusement, all in various stages of undress. And this is why I go to sleep in clothing I can get up and walk about in! I bet it'd be a lot more embarrassing if I'd had to fight in my underwear like Boulra was.
My thoughts were interrupted by the sudden onslaught of combat as the vastly decreased pirate crew swarmed over the ropes towards our ship. Several of the figures were better dressed and moved with confidence and purpose, marking them as the dangerous and probably higher leveled foes. One such figure came running straight towards me; a tall pretty woman dressed in a long green vest with a frilled white blouse beneath it. Her dark brown hair glinted wetly under the flickering lamplight as she brandished a beautiful katana with golden decoration as she moved with a dancer's grace.
I watched as she dodged among the crowd, a sharpshooter guarding her back as she headed right for me, a scowl twisting her pretty features. Why me, why was she targeting me? She just bypassed several others! Oh sure go for the exhausted person! Who- happened to come from where your allies should have…Ah, she must have figured out I had foiled the attack for the most part. I sighed and readied myself for the incoming foe.
I took a step forward to meet her charge head on, my bo staff solidly stopping her downward slash.
She glared at me through the crossed weapons.
"You! You're the one that ruined my carefully laid plans!"
"You say it like that's a bad thing." I replied cheekily with a tired grin as I shoved her backwards, putting all my considerable mass and strength behind it. She stumbled backwards, her eyes widening briefly as she found herself off balance. Her delicate lips twisted into a sneer.
"I'll show you why it's a bad thing to go against the Emerald Corsairs!" She dodged to the side with considerable speed and grace and stabbed. I flinched as my staff connected and a deep bell tone rang out. There's no way something that delicate can sound like a large bell! My distraction allowed her to swing her blade around my defense to cut my unwounded arm. I flipped my staff upwards so the lower end smacked her heavily in the jaw as she smirked at me. My back wound flared up in pain and I felt the small amount of healing come undone from my fast movements. A quick glance at my status showed a bleeding effect was once again slowly draining my health bar; the wound had reopened and would need attention soon.
"Someone likes noisy toys." I grumbled as our exchanged blows continuously caused a bell tone to ring out. It was really hard to get into a fighting mode when wedding bells kept ringing out! Distracting and annoying! "Ever heard of being quiet and discreet?"
"A peasant such as yourself would not understand the beauty of my Gōrudenkorāru!" She sneered at me and I gave her a weird look.
"Is that like a fighting style? Cause if so I think you made that up…" I swayed backwards to dodge her angry slash and did my best to avoid giving away what was happening behind her; like Phil approaching, a graceful whirlwind with the force of a wrecking ball currently approaching very fast and very silently.
"Gōrudenkorāru is my -!" Her sentence was cut off abruptly as Phil's staff knocked her unconscious.
Captain Loran "Jewel Thief" Swan defeated with help, decreased exp: +50 exp.
"Um.. thanks?" I said as I took a breather. I may have been doing decently on status bars but my body was saying it was tired. Decreased exp gain if I have help? Interesting… at least I knew that if I merely helped fight then still got some exp. Though 50 was a lot! Perhaps she was actually a big shot and Phil had saved me from more wounds?
"No problem." He frowned as he noticed the bandages. "Your movements were slower and stiff so I figured something was up and you might need a hand."
"I could have handled it but yeah…" I grimaced as I ran a hand across the bandages across the back wound and it came back red. "Stab wound to the lower back."
"Get that seen too and then look to the wounded." He ordered. I stiffened and glared back.
"I can still fight!"
"And risk bleeding out?" He shook his head. "You've fought enough lass... and there are worse wounded that need help. See to them first before you try to get yourself hurt some more!" With that the older man turned and jumped back into the fray.
Stupid chivalry and male dominated society treating me like I was delicate! I grumbled to myself as I ducked behind a barrel to avoid the gunshots incoming and redid my bandages and took care of that annoying bleeding status effect. But I was exhausted from the earlier fight and he did have a good reason; I could use my first aid knowledge to help others. As I looked around for the wounded I saw something that made me stiffen in anger: one of the pirates bending over a fallen crew member with a knife in his hands. Not on my watch he wasn't!
I growled and soru-ed over to quickly knock him away before he could kill any of the unconscious people. Filthy coward! Killing those who couldn't fight back! My staff came down with a bit too much force and dented another pirate's head into the deck.
1 Pirate defeated + 15 exp.
15? I take it these guys are more dangerous than the other ones? Nice! But- I sighed and tore off the pirate's shirt to make some extra bandages; I needed to keep people alive more than I needed to go out and hit things. I'll let the boys deal with it instead! I noticed the pirate I'd taken out had a flask of whiskey on him; that I took as well to help disinfect any wounds. I dodged into combat and grabbed one of the men bleeding quite seriously from several bullet wounds.
"I'm going to remove the bullets then bandage you up, it'll hurt a bit." I told the sweating pale man and he nodded gratefully. It was but a few moments to carefully extract the bullets, give him a drink of the whiskey after he managed to not scream as I disinfected and bandaged his wounds.
+10 exp for saving a life.
I got experience for saving lives? Sweet! "Stay here and don't die." I ordered the trembling man and he nodded.
I repeated this process four times, running in to grab the wounded and pulling them out of the way and bandaging them up all the while dodging gun shots. After one too many close calls I took the time to find out where the sniper was. There he was; a shadowy figure way up I the crow's nest across the way! Must have a really nice rifle to reach this far this accurately.
"Someone take out the sharp shooter!" I pitched my voice so it would cut through combat. "He's in the crow's nest on the pirate ship!" Shank's must have heard me as he was suddenly running across the ropes connecting our ships to go deal with it. Nice boy that one!
However several others noticed as well and two more pirates came at me with cutlasses swinging.
Thwack THUD. A quick soru behind them and critical strikes took them down nicely. From my new point I noticed yet another scumbag trying to go for the fallen; seriously what was with these cowards?
As I traversed the deck aiming at the coward, I noticed some pretty epic looking fights occurring. There wasn't a lot of crew from either side now, and only the strong were left. The sounds of fighting had been replaced mostly with whimpers and groans of the fallen. I could hear gunshots coming from the other ship; Shanks must still be over there alive and fighting. Boulra and the Casanova Captain were fighting a bald martial artist whose fists were doing some serious damage to the deck while Phil had engaged a swordsman in an epic battle of whirling weapons, blindingly fast dodges, and ship wrecking attacks. I felt a little jealous of their epic battles and wished I could join in but I had lives to save!
Once I was out of the range of the melee I soru'ed towards the cowardly pirate; my knee connecting with his face as he bent over to coup de gra the Casanova chef. He hit the ship railing and fell overboard with a screech; I ignored him in favor of bending over to attempt to save the chef's live. His left leg had completely been chopped off and was draining blood at an alarming rate. A simple quick alcohol cleaning and bandage wasn't going to be enough to save him. My eyes caught sight of the lamp nearby and I knew what I needed to do.
I soaked a shirt ripped off an unconscious crew member nearby in the oil from the lamp.
"Sorry man… but I need to get it to stop bleeding. I hope you don't wake up from this…" I muttered as I poured some of the whiskey on the wound and lit the cloth on fire and put it to the wound. A sickening scent of burning flesh and a sizzling sound filled the air and after a bit I pulled the burning cloth away and tossed it over the side of the rail. The chef stirred from his unconscious state with a whimper. My stomach was queasy and unsettled at the sight and smell; this was something I did not want to do but I needed to… otherwise who knew what sort of infections would creep in or if he'd live? I could see the severed bone and the exposed muscles twitching in the air.
"Almost done." I murmured as I poured a bit more whiskey on it to make sure it was clean before using the last of my clean bandages instead of the torn clothing I had been taking from crew members.
The man whimpered and slid into pained consciousness and tried to thrash around. I carefuly restrained him so he didn't hurt himself anymore.
+10 for saving a life
+1 to Mind for calmly analyzing the situation and correctly acting upon the diagnostic in a time sensitive and stressful situation
"Sorry you had to wake up to that." I handed him the last of the whiskey; he needed it! "I cauterized and bandaged it so you'll live." He nodded gratefully, drained the alcohol then slid back under, the pain too much apparently. What a terrible time to wake up! I lifted him up gently princess style and moved him further off to the side so no one would stumble over him. Then I turned around to see the final acts of the fight.
The sudden lack of gun shots told me Shanks was successful. And, yup, there he was skipping across the ropes back to our ship. Boulra and the Captain did a beautifully executed pincer attack and managed to knock their opponent out as Phil literally grabbed the swordsman and body slammed him into the mast, causing the entire ship to shiver slightly.
I noticed several of the pirates were bleeding out from Boulra's attacks so I bandaged those up as everyone else took the time to catch their breath and realize they'd won.
Event Completed:
Successfully Survived the Night: +50 exp, +1 Stat point
Robbery stopped: +25 exp, +1 uncommon item
Item Awarded: Packet of chocolate flower seeds is now located in your pack.
Casanova Saved!: +25 exp, +1 Treasure chest
Chest awarded: it is now located in your room.
No one has died this night!: +100 exp, +1 Random Feat.
Feat Awarded: Ear of the Critic.
+10 Prestige for acts of heroism.
Level up to Level 7! 23/700
Status Bars all refilled. +1 Stat point +1 Skill point
Points to be assigned at next rest.
I wanted to investigate the items I'd earned and the chest as well as that feat but first I had to get people all bandaged up, make sure no one killed anyone, and loot the ships.
"Why exactly are you bandaging the pirates?" I looked up to see the bleeding Captain of the Casanova looking at me curiously.
"Cause they're people and we've already defeated them. No reason to make them suffer." I smiled slightly as I responded. "If you could all line up I'll make sure everything's bandaged and if you've broken any bones I can set those too."
"Ohhhh. You're a doctor too?" Shanks gave me a wide grinned and I shook my head.
"I know only the basics; first aid stuff for the most part. I only recently learned most of it from Kellbar Island while I was recovering actually."
I noticed Boulra looking over at where I'd gone to fight off the penguins. "There's another pirate ship over there, Boulra." I called over as I started to tend to the Captain and Phil began to drag crew members over and tie up the pirates. "Could you go over and make sure they're all tied up? Most of them are unconscious and might be waking up soon." He nodded and slipped over the side.
I finished my work then looked over towards where Boulra was moving about in the dark. "I'm going to go investigate the Raging Penguin."
"The what?" Shanks snickered and I grinned and pointed towards the ship Boulra had gone to secure.
"It's that ship! I figure I might as well claim some of the loot and help Boulra with the pirates."
"Ah… speaking of that: I'll be right back. I need to call the marines so they can pick these scoundrels up." Our ship's captain mentioned as he strode off toward a door where I could see a pale bulbous face peeking out of. "We have won the night, sir. You can rest easily once more." I heard our captain (what was his name?) say as I headed towards the edge of the ship, stopping only to grab the shiny sword from where it'd fallen from the Swan Captain's hands after she fell.
Across the way I found Boulra in the kitchen, eagerly rolling out some barrels of what I presumed to be alcohol to put into one of the long boats. He was also, much to my amusement, still in his boxers; not that I minded! He was rather ripped and his lean form looked a lot more dangerous now that he wasn't hiding underneath unassuming clothes and I did appreciate eye candy.
"Couldn't wait to get some alcohol ehh? Not even taking the time to put some pants on?" I teased him as I began looking around for some recipes for alcohol.
"Booze always comes first. Besides, I'm not embarrassed of showing off." He flexed as I rolled my eyes and went back to looking around for some recipes.
I got lucky in a small personal book of recipes; there was a handwritten one for Gladstone rum! Something new and a different type than I had already! I pocketed that and began to rummage around in the captains quarters, finding only a small map of North blue and a treasure map to add to my collection.
It appeared that Boulra had managed to clean out most of the treasure room in the short time I'd been browsing books. I did find a half full chest he hadn't stolen yet full of some lovely carvings and statuettes with some gems embedded as well as some jewelry. I looked up as Boulra came back down.
"You cleaned this place out!"
"Figured I'd get everything across then we could split it... most of it to you since you took out this ship."
"I don't need all of it." I shook my head in amusement. "Thanks though. Can I have this chest? I like the statues and carvings."
He shrugged. "I prefer beri's."
"And booze."
"That too." I followed him out and loaded all the pirates into the extra longboats to ferry them across where we could keep an eye on them while Boulra transported the other ones. One of treasure, the other of booze.
Then I wandered over to find Phil and Shanks doing the same to the Emerald Swan. They looked to have most things under control so I focused on more maps or recipes as well as stealing the really nice deep emerald green long sleeved captain's coat with a long flared tail. It had dark green and blue embroidery all about the edges with a large stylized egret amid white jasmine like flowers embroidered upon the back. I like my comfy clothes but a girl's gotta have something nice right? Besides, it fit my broad shoulders perfectly! I grabbed some of the green bandannas as well since they were so lovely.
I hopped back over to find most of the people were waking up. All the treasure chests and barrels were suspiciously not present at all and I saw Shanks motion me over.
"We hid most of the stuff in your room since you actually have a room." He said softly. "Phil said he'd stay up here to make sure everyone stay's tied up so if you want to head down, Boulra and I were going to split everything now."
"Sure." I wonder exactly what they'd found after all. I noticed him looking at the coat curiously.
"I found it and it fits." I said with a grin as I headed down. "I don't have anything this nice."
"It looks like a captain's coat… you thinking of being a captain?"
"I'd like my own ship one day. And I am going to go on an adventure in the Grandline so I suppose I might." I entered my small room to find it overflowing with too much stuff. "I think I need a bigger room. Where am I supposed to sleep?"
"The barrels will be empty soon enough." Boulra grinned and Shank's eyes lit up.
"What types did you find?"
"Ohara Sake, Gladstone Rum, Elderberry wine, some Golden Ale, and a single barrel of Sparkling wine."
"I'll claim some of the small bottles instead of the barrels. Easier for me to carry." I spoke up. "You guys can have all the barrels."
"Treasure wise I split em up into four chests I found… I already left a small one in the Casanova captain's quarters since he actually fought so everything here is for us hard workers." Boulra pointed to a large chest next to the small one I'd found on the Raging Penguin. "I left yours in that chest next to the small one you found and the one you already had in here." One I already-? Aahhhh: the event chest!
"Thanks!" I looked inside to see what exactly he'd given me. I decided to trust him on being honest since what I could see meant that it was pretty equally split plus I wasn't really that greedy. I had my levels in addition to my event chest!
"By the way…" Shanks spoke up, his tone sly. "I don't suppose you know how many you took out Jasmine?"
"Hmm?" I looked up from my chests. "Umm.. There were 4 from the first crew… Sea Hounds or something. They left after I took their captain out. Then…" I paused as I counted the Penguins and Swans. "I think 29 after that? So 32?"
"Drat, that's more than my score." Boulra muttered. "I still say your strange thing that knocked our crew unconscious should count as negative towards your score, Shanks." He said as Shanks laughed.
"Score?" I asked in confusion.
"Boulra said whoever had the least amount of people defeated had to pay for tomorrow's breakfast… I used my haki to knock out most of the swan pirates."
"Emerald Corsairs. The Swan Captain lady called her crew that." I corrected absently as I recalled the captain's words as well as thinking about this haki. "Haki that knocks them unconscious... is that Conqueror's haki?"
"You know of it?" Shanks looked surprised as Boulra looked confused.
"What's this Haki?"
"Will power!" Shanks responded.
"Conqueror's haki is really rare. Like one in a million rare." Was my response. "I read a lot." I gave my excuse as to their questioning looks. "I know there's also Armament and Observational haki as well."
"The color of armament and color of observation. Or Busoshuki no haki and Kenbunshoku no haki if you feel fancy." Phil said as he entered, having caught the last bit. "You don't often find it out in the blue seas."
"I've been to the Grandline as a cabin boy." Shanks explained with a cheeky grin. "I had a teacher after I unlocked my conqueror's haki so I can sorta use it. Works better if I feel strongly about something though. Otherwise it's a hit or miss."
"Do you know the others?"
"Sorta? I haven't unlocked armament yet but Ray—my teacher taught me what he could."
"Could you share that?" My eyes lit up at the idea; so you had to unlock them somehow? Did that mean even if I reached the requirements they still wouldn't let me choose that skill unlit something happened?
"Sure. Mostly it's just blindfold yourself and get hit by a stick until you unlock it." His voice was very dry as he said that. Boulra and I stared at him and he shrugged. "That's what they told me! Apparently you either get tough enough that you awaken the armament or you learn to see the incoming blow and awaken observation. I woke mine up in fights actually so I guess challenge strong people to unlock em?"
"Shesh… well it would make for a good spar if we went blindfolded… practice for situations where you are blinded I guess." I shook my head and went back to my chests as I listened to the boys bicker.
"Jasmine got 32, I got like 70 or more, and Boulra managed 15. What'd you get Phil?"
"Only 6 since that swordsman took up a lot of my time. I guess that means I pay for breakfast…. Good thing the Captain told me that we eat for free the rest of the trip as long as it's within reason since we saved the ship and kept them from stealing the gold on board."
"Nice!"
"That means you can pay for the first meal we eat when we reach an island." I chipped in as I finished sorting through the various stones and jewelry pieces in the big chest and moved on to admire the carvings and statuettes I'd gotten.
"Ah... I found this for you Jasmine. Since you mentioned being a navigator." Boulra pulled out a small wooden box with brass decorations. In the middle was a beautifully made compass with delicate ornate designs in the brass parts.
"Thanks!" I gave him a big smile. "Oh… You use a cutlass right? Do you know how to use a katana? I picked up this from the last captain." I pointed towards my stolen blade and both he and Shank's shook their heads.
"I prefer cutlasses."
"I like sabers more." Shank's said as he eyed the katana. "Is that the thing that was making all the bell sounds?"
"Gōrudenkorāru is its name and it is a stolen blade from … I think it's the Medici royal family?" Phil said from his position by his share of the loot. "Went missing about a decade ago so the lady captain probably took it from someone who stole it originally."
"Golden coral ehh? Pretty name for a pretty blade. Annoying though." Boulra said as he broke open one of the barrels and handed out fancy stolen mugs from his loot pile to the rest of us.
"It's like… 3 am in the morning. Are we really drinking now?" I eyed the drink as the men about me chortled.
"It's always time for sake!" Shanks laughed as he downed his easily. Kid apparently was a drinker even at his young age.
"Let me see your back first." Phil said with a stern glare at me. The other two looked confused for a second. "If it's deep it will need stiches which I can do." His voice told me he was perfectly fine with sitting on me if need be. I grumbled but turned around and removed the bindings any ways.
The hiss from Shanks told me it didn't look pretty.
"Gonna need several stiches for that… you fought and swam with that?" Boulra asked; his normally dry bored tone tinged with respect.
"Now I'm doubly glad I told you to look after the wounded." Phil muttered as I heard him pulling something out. "Lay down lass, I'm going to need to stich that up."
"She still fought a bit afterwards." The tattletale! "Get her drunk first otherwise it's going to hurt since we don't have pain killers." Shanks smirked at me. "Might as well see how high her alcohol tolerance is while we're at it!"
"… I'm getting the urge to shove you into a barrel and deny you alcohol for a week." I growled at Shanks who laughed and handed me another mug.
"Drink up Jasmine! Unless you want to be awake and completely aware while he's stitching you up?"
I had no real choice in the matter since I did not want to be completely cognizant while that happened.
Turns out it takes me 4 mugs of good sake to get drunk and 8 to go unconscious. As Shanks gleefully told me the next morning over my hangover… the fiend.
[[Jasmine bio 1]]
AN: That was a long ass fight XD And she still hasn't finished leveling up or finding out all her loot. Her character sheet contains it all listed though :3 Doing my best to not go into gory description of stuff since I know some peeps have lower tolerances than I.
Hmmm I am not getting notices when peeps update so sorry for the slow response to you all who have reviewed!