Disclaimer: One Piece is the property of Eiichiro Oda. Many of the characters in this story are property of me. Do not use this story or its characters without my permission. Thank you.
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Kaede sat down, still clad in her ninja gear, across from Araly, who was nervously sipping from a small cup of tea. Every now and then, the running of feet in the streets was heard over the light rain, and tactical yelling sprouted out from the houses and alleys.
Araly stuttered over thoughts, trying to make sense of the situation that Kaede had just finished describing. Bounty hunters had been planning a coordinated attack against the pirates at the island in an attempt for their leader to become a candidate for the office of Shichibukai.
In the feint pitter-patter of rain on the metal roof above them, a soft crawling was heard in the dimly lit cabin sitting room. Araly could swear to hearing a halted breathing and the light rustling of clothes in the pitch black shadows.
"Lady Kaede," Araly spoke up, "how many people already know about this raid?" Kaede glanced in the direction of the shadows, then looked directly at Araly.
"To be honest sweetie," Kaede said in a serious tone, "I doubt anyone past my crew is aware. We've been spying on the commander of the forces here for several weeks, since they formed the plan." She shifted her stare over to the dark side of the room. "Isn't that right, Hebimaru?" Araly looked confusingly at Kaede, speaking at the darkness.
"Yesss, Lady Kaede…" Araly fell out of her seat screaming and pointing at the vaguely humanoid figure that was slouching against the ceiling in the darkness. She gasped with shocked-white eyes and a wide-open mouth, still pointing and trying in vain to form an obvious question.
"Oh, relax dear," Kaede said calmly waving her hand, "this is our foremost expert on subterfuge and reconnaissance, Hebimaru. He's also our newest crewmember. What brings you here, Hebimaru?" Hebimaru let out a hollow exhalation, staring through the darkness at his senior.
"They have ssstarted to move out, my Lady. Their plan remains…unchanged" he said in a very dry and breathy voice. Araly slowly climbed back into her seat and tried to focus in on the giant man.
He's taller than Bard is, but very skinny. She could still only see the featureless outline of this beastly man from her sitting. Kaede was smiling, obviously pleased at the news.
"Very well then, you're dismissed Hebimaru. Oh!" She turned back to Araly and smiled. "Deary, how eill we know your crew mates from the others?" Araly stared at her for a second before she remembered Bard's rules of conduct as a Buster Pirate.
"They flex." She said hastily. Kaede's eyes tried to search for more information in her statement but found none.
"Can you elaborate?" Araly nodded and stood up. She raised her arms up and flexed, edging out a smile at the end to reestablish her fearless boundaries. Kaede chuckled before turning to Hebimaru, who seemed to nod affirmatively.
"It isss underssstood. Do not hurt the ones ssso fond of their strength. What flag do they carry?" Araly lowered her arms back and turned to Hebimaru in the shadows, thinking of what their flag looked like. After a while, the blank she drew wouldn't go away. Suddenly, a realization came to her, and an image was pasted in her head.
"Our captain has a black sleeveless coat with a golden dragon design on the back." Waiting for an approval from the strange man, she could hear the feint crawling noise yet again, and his outline vanished from the darkness.
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It finally stopped raining. The Town Square outside the Tall Mast Tavern was abuzz with the hushed conversation between the pirates blockading and guarding the bar and the pirates trying to get in.
"Alright," Sasuke said to the gathering inside, "I know their plan well enough to stop it, but I'll need someone to help me with it." Bard, Rezland and Zan were previously deemed, along with Sasuke, the 'leaders' of the pirate's counter-strikea gainst the bounty hunters by the pirates themselves. Right now, Bard was raising his hand the highest by standing on the table.
Sasuke embarrassingly pointed to him, and Bard immediately cheered while Rezland, who was also hoping to go, slumped down to the table in defeat. Bard wasn't merciful about his victory, either, taunting Rezland from the table.
"Haha! I get to party with the NIN-ja, not you! Captain's privileges rock!" Rezland scowled heavily with his chin on the table while Zan just stared at Sasuke.
"What will you two be doing while Rezland and I defend the bar?" Zan asked. Sasuke pulled the black fabric of his ninja garb over his mouth and around his head.
"There should be at least four warships coming loaded with marines and bounty hunters to the opposite side of the island. I don't know how many will be unloading there, but I intend to stop them before they can get to the town. My team will try to block them off in the labyrinth and ambush them in case they try to attack any of the ships harbored there."
Zan nodded, obviously understanding his role. Regardless to his understanding, Rezland still had to ask.
"So what are we doing?" Rez inquired from his slump. Sasuke was already on his way out, followed closely and fanatically by Bard.
"Keep the pirate flag flying at the top of this mast. A long as the flag stands strong, the resolve of the pirates will never fade." Rezland eyed the pitch-black man curiously before he jumped over the crowd into the clearing rain, followed by Bard who pushed his way through the crowd.
"Well, you heard him," Zan said as he kicked himself out of his chair and started walking towards the crowd of armed and anxious pirates. "Let's give these guys one hell of a fight." He drew out his handblades from the back of his belt and politely pushed his way to the front of the mob.
Rez got up with a devilish smirk and rushed after him, his hand gripped tightly on the weapon strapped to his back.
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Sasuke darted from tree to tree with amazing speed, while Bard was sprinting alongside him on the ground. They were heading for the labyrinth entrance, where Sasuke and his crew had a secret passage to the top of the crag-rock walls for easy navigation.
Sasuke pulled at an outcropping and it descended like a lever, revealing a doorway covered by now falling brush and gravel. Bard arrived in time to follow Sasuke into the door and up the candle-lit stairway to the top of the maze's walls.
From where they were standing, Bard and Sasuke could see the entire layout of the labyrinth. Every turn and twist, the heap of impassible rubble that Bard made yesterday, every exit and entrance. Bard was dumbfounded at how simple this maze seemed to him.
I wish there were a shortcut when I tried this… Bard mused, as Sasuke was perched atop a rock spire. He was staring cautiously through a telescope toward the fog-shrouded forest across the maze. Through the thick fog, Sasuke could make out three large shadows floating on the water.
Three's not a bad number, Sasuke thought to himself, But this could only be another maneuver on their part. He retracted his collapsible telescope and hopped down beside Bard, who was staring intently at one of the ships.
"So, Sasuke, can I ask you a question?"
"Sure." Sasuke was eager to hear what this giant of a young captain had to ask.
"Can you do cool ninja magic, like clone yourself?" The sheer blunt, serious tone of Bard's question forced Sasuke's face to recompose itself against the rock floor beneath him. He got up, holding his head in amazement as Bard continued to stare ahead as if nothing happened.
Is this guy really a pirate?
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"So, sweetie," Kaede asked Araly as she was rummaging through a trunk of old clothes, "do you know what you'll do?"
"Of course" Araly said, pulling out an armful of tattered cloth and dusty garments. She stuffed them all in a large bag, then threw it over her shoulder and grasped the strap. "I don't have much choice in the matter, do I? If I don't fight with the pirates, then I'm a coward and they'll think I'm a turncoat." She took a smug look out the window at the still overcast sky and clear air.
"I'll prove my worth to my crewmates, or I'll die trying." Kaede was moved to a sincere grin by the sheer tenacity of Araly's selfless bravery and valor. If she knew just how much fear Araly was holding back in her mind, her opinion would quickly change.
Bard you moron! I'm only fighting because you're not here to protect me! If I get killed in this stupid battle I swear that I'll haunt you forever!
She ran down the stairs and out the open door into the street, which still had several small puddles from the rain. Carrying a heavy looking backpack filled with clothes, she waited for her guide and lifeline at the moment to jump out in front of her to guide her to the safest area.
"Well, come on." A tender voice called from above. Kaede was standing, almost expectantly, on a roof above Araly.
"How am I supposed to get up there!?" Araly roared out. Kaede shrugged politely and winked before slowly turning around and pacing barely out of Araly's sight. In panic, Araly grabbed a piece of fabric from her pack and threw it up to the roof. It traveled like a snake through the air and hooked onto a gutter. Araly began slowly and arduously scaling the short, one-and-a-half story shack to the roof.
"Good job." Kaede remarked, sitting atop a chimney-stack. "We don't have very far to go, only a block or two. Try and keep up." With another wink she was off and jumping across the roofs like a cat. Araly grimaced and pulled herself up, despairing openly at the trial in front of her.
It doesn't exactly help that these buildings aren't built at even heights, even if they are close together. If Kaede loses me and I die, She paused briefly to hoist herself up to another nearby roof to follow the agile ninja, …I'll haunt her too!
