~Aelelia~

At first, Aelelia hardly paid any attention to the posters advertising the Arena. But she kept seeing more and more of the posters, until the exterior walls of all the buildings were so covered with the things that she couldn't see the color of the buildings underneath them. With a somewhat reluctant sigh, she walked to the nearest posters to take a closer look at them. She felt as if the posters were somehow plastered all over like that specifically for her, like she was being haunted by the things or something, and there was no way she could ignore them any longer. She had a feeling that the place was going to be troublesome, as the cheering was already intense and she was still quite a ways away, but there really wasn't much else for her to do but visit the Arena, since she didn't want to go back to the ship just yet. So she looked up to where the Arena towered over the distance in order to gauge the direction she needed to go in order to get there, and set off, a small smile forming on her face. Troublesome or not, the Arena did seem a bit exciting, and exciting was always good when she was looking for something to do.

_________________
Zath: Behold, Karo: The only woman in existence who can make Fenix shut the fuck up.
Redsnow: That, and, frankly, if Karo doesn't like you that much, your character is probably going to die soon after his acceptance anyway.
Keiran: Bad RPs don't get picked, unmemberable RPs get ignored.
Zelosse: I don't usually laugh at blatant attitude, but when I do. It usually involves Karo.

[Pre-Time Lapse]
As Hodo came flying at the Warlord, he noticed too late that his attacks had little, if any, effect. And then the Warlord swung and smashed him in the face. Just before the blow connected, Hodo locked his muscles, focusing on the skill of his Iron Body technique. "Tekk--" And then the blow connected and he was almost sure he felt the orbit around his eye crack under the sheer force of the Warlord's punch. His body, which had been completely rigid a moment ago, went limp as the punch robbed him of thought, replaced by the sharp, penetrating stab of pain as the punch broke through his defenses and sent him tumbling through the air, and smashing into the opposite wall, face-first.

Moments later, regaining control over his mind, he rolled himself onto his chest and pushed himself up just as another Warlord--Sapphire, if he remembered correctly--issued his warning. The words sent a chill down Hodo's spine and he could feel himself shake. He looked at his hands, watching them tremble, even long after Sapphire and Ruby left them, shaken, but alive.



[In Transit]
Hodo brooded on the aft end of the ship for half the trip. He hadn't even been a challenge to the Ruby Warlord. He was sure that, even with his light frame, he would have at least given the Warlord a bit of a fight. Instead, he had been unilaterally defeated. It had been utterly pathetic.

Hodo knew he needed to be stronger, if he was going to reach his goal. But he had nowhere to train; no way to get stronger, even if he tried. If he practiced on his own, what would become of it? How would he know if he had gotten better? His own perceptions were broken by pride. The pride of apparent success.

Well, the only thing he could do at this point would be to work some endurance into his body; the last thing he needed was a sprain in the middle of a fight...

For the last half of the journey, Hodo underwent a series of endurance tests and exercises and found himself terribly lacking. He couldn't hold his Tekkai longer than a few seconds; his Rankyaku always seemed to leave his legs sore even after a single use; his Soru reached his body's limit after only about three or four jumps; his Geppo was okay but could be better. He had no way to test his Kami-e or Shigan without sparring with his crew, and he didn't want to injure or be injured by them. He'd try to find time to practice them later. For the time being, he focused on the four techniques, taking regular breaks to eat and so on, but primarily trained for the last half of the trip. He finally stopped when they spotted land.



[Arrival]

Hodo walked down the gangplank, a little tired from his training, but feeling relatively light on his feet. He felt like he had made a little progress in his skills.

Walking through a new city was always a treat. Be it a decadent town or an urban city, there was almost always something to see or do. In this case, it was a happy median. He spent a little time roaming through the marketplace, soaking up the local gossip on the town, learning new things about the area, the most interesting of which might have been the Arena, as it was called. Seated several tens of thousand, and gave an opportunity for up-and-coming brawlers a chance to make a name for themselves. The rumors about the champ were scarce and could hardly be believed. He would have to see for himself. Besides, it sounded like a good opportunity to train, and it might be fun to boot.

Heading towards the Arena gates, he spied a member from his crew and hurried to catch up to her. "Aelelia!" he called out, pulling alongside her and then slowing his pace to match hers. With a half-smile, he said "You're joining the tournament? I don't know that I've seen you fight; are you strong?"

"I'm just joining because I need to train," he said after a moment. "My skills need some work. I'm just too weak."

As they walked, he remarked on the size of the Colosseum. He'd only seen one of these types of buildings in travel guides and history texts. Very impressive.

_________________

-Reggy the dockmaster-
(Matt, Loop, Arka.)

Reggy took an involuntary step back behind his guards as a chill ran up his spine, these people weren't afraid of a host of guards. That was impossible for poor Reggy to understand since the rulers of the island had placed him in charge of the docks, his word here was the law!
Taking a firm stance he glared at the knight standing before him, mangled and bruised but brimming with overconfidence that Reggy was sure would lead to the poor mans demise some day. readjusting his fine clothing he began to speak like the superior to a slave, "Listen you wretch. If you do not have the cash to dock then you need to disembark before this gets phys-" The words froze in his mouth for a moment as sweat began to crest his forhead, a presence he had felt so many times before.

Looking over his shirt, Reggy saw a man with short blonde hair with a colorful short-sleeved t-shirt and similar shorts on walking nonchalantly towards them. He was tall and well built, with a few scars decorating his arms and exposed legs. When he spoke, all the guards saluted awkwardly before moving to the side.
"Reggy my friend, it's been a while!" Smiling and giving a big enthusiastic wave to the dockmaster.
Swallowing whatever was caught in his throat the dockmaster saluted the man before speaking with praise, "O-oh my, why y-yes it has been a while! W-w-what is the Coliseum champion doing on the docks this evening?" He stammered in what seemed like fear.
The man walked closer to Reggy before latching him in a big hug, "Is there something wrong with me taking a day off? Besides, this ship belongs to "Him" personally, if these fellows have it I suggest you don't hassle them! Probably important business." With another big smile and a wink, the man placed a sack of coins in Reggys coat while he idly rubbed his chest. "This should cover the docking."

With an involuntary shudder, Reggy bowed before calling for his men to depart. An order they were more than happy to follow through with!
Meanwhile the odd man stood tapping his foot idly with his hands across his chest waiting for the guards to leave, when they had fully departed he addressed Loop with a level tone. "I will not ask how you managed to get a warlords ship, but if you intend to keep it I suggest you get some cash to change it's appearance. How it is now is nothing more than a beacon for marines!"
Suddenly taking a moment to smirk and raise an eyebrow, the man gave Loop an up and down look and seemed to enjoy what he saw. "My my, so many wounds on your... alluring body. If your armor is damaged you could get it repaired, the outfitter at the coliseum can do wonders with steel." Reaching into his pocket he took out what appeared to be 1 golden coin, emblazoned on it was a symbol that nobody could decipher, with a flip of his finger it launched at loop to land at his feet.

"This is a challengers coin, with it you and as many as you choose can enter the coliseum without an admissions fee. I'd love to see your buns in my ring... and in my chambers." He giggled a bit at the end, without waiting for a response he waved goodbye and walked away at a rather slow pace, his destination was clearly the massive stone arena that lay some ways in the distance.
(I think you know what to do.)



-Malkizid-

With a soft smile on his young face Malkizid took a deep sip of tea and listened to the events that had transpired, when he got to the part about his wife Malkizid dropped his teacup involuntarily in shock, but a few hay straws shout out of his sleeve to grab hold of it before spilling or breaking and gently lowered it back onto the tea coster before slithering back into his gloved hands sleeve.
"Your wife? I knew she had lived from the events on that sad day, but I had no idea she would sell her soul to the gemlords... Though this poses an interesting opportunity that I am sure you're aware of," Reaching into his desk Malkizid pulled out a picture of amethyst with her sword drawn and another with reports of her more personal life.
"Amethyst is the only warlord that seems to be fractured, chipped even. Even before this, the woman displayed sympathy to both victims and innocents. Often refusing to obey Ruby and Sapphire, her soul belongs to them but a maidens heart belongs to the one who took first." A wry grin stretched on his face as Malkizids mind raced with the new information.
"I think with a little convincing, she would openly betray the warlords. Change sides, use the information against the ones that killed everyone she ever loved. As a phantom of her past the poor girls soul is no longer anchored to survival and revenge, but to settling the score."

With a sudden coughing spasm, Malkizid hunched over and took out a small Handkerchief to cover his mouth. After what felt like several minutes his spasm stopped, the handkerchief was dripping with blood. The man was still extremely ill. "I don't think my body will last much longer, Stitch... You have to finish our goal soon.. I... I want to see their faces when they've seen demise." Malkizid whispered softly.


-Jack Valentine-


In the cellar of the bar was a secret passage, opened with a pressure panel hidden behind a portrait of a raging sandstorm, but in the middle was a silhouette of a man holding a long staff.
As the wall slid open, a row of torches guided them for what felt like a mile until they reached a staircase. With a smile, the man motioned for Jack to continue with him. The two walked in silence for what felt like an 20 minutes before the staircase ended at a blank wall, knocking twice it slid open like the one in the bar cellar.

The walls of the room changed from stone to incredibly rich milky white, elaborate decorative designs lining the top and oak panels near the floor, statues and expensive paintings lining the rich walls. In the middle of the room was an amazing wooden table with gold and silver lining it, a single pair of cards sat in the middle of the table. A servant came from the side with a steel suitcase for the master and walked away as quietly as he'd come.
Taking a seat at one end of the table he motioned for Jack to do the same, when Jack sat the master opened up the suitcase to reveal ivory poker chips with more gold and silver embedded in them. "Lets start slow, 100000 berri to buy in shall we say?" Placing the chips in Jacks corner and his own, the strange grin never leaving his face.


-Hodo / Aelelia-


The coliseum stretched to the sky, seemingly touching the clouds. It was truly an intimidating building that not many could believe was crafted by mortal man, insisting a titan had formed it from a mountain at the request of his subjects or for his desire to see blood spilled for amusement. Whatever reason it really was, the coliseum was many years old. Vines crawled all over the walls with pieces of the wall having fallen off or simply been chipped away by something else entirely. The most notable part of the coliseum was the massive gash on the far right side near the grand entrance, easily 25 feet long and almost piercing the other side of the 3 foot thick granite walls.

At the gate was a rather stout man with a long beard, a table with a chest infront of him was calling to people to place bets on fighting. A sheet of paper on the front showed going rates for betting while another to the side showed the fees for services while sitting in the large and popular arena.
The admission fee for unknown contestants was 350,000beri upfront.
To the sides of the massive gates were 2 smaller doors, one led to the arena waiting room and the other to the stands.

_________________

[Jack Valentine] "The Chips are down"

Jack was amazed by the secrecy of the whole thing with panels he'd never be able to spot and the painting that was secretly a lever, this to Jack surprised him but also made him a little wary. To have him personally be moved so far out of the reach of his comrades made him suspicious of the man he'd been following. The decrative room left Jack slightly agape, it was beautiful probably the most lavish looking room he'd ever seen and the table and chips were brilliant looking. Jack sat down and nodded at the man's offer and put his chips in, the less he said the less he'd give away of himself.

_________________

[Loop Lionheart]

There weren't many things in this world that could make an experienced knight scared. Loop himself always took pride in his ability laugh in the face of death for the sake of another. He had even faced Ruby, the terrifying captain of the Gem warlords, with a level, albeit somewhat fanatical, head just the other day. The moment this so called champion turned his eyes on him though, Loop found himself taking a few nervous steps backwards. He also had to suppress a distinctly uncomfortable desire to cover his body, for some strange reason. A sensation which started making perfect sense when the man started dishing out his...compliments.

Loop felt his left eye twitch.

He tried to convince himself that, yes, he would have normally thanked the man for the help he offered, really he would, but the knight found himself somewhat speechless at the buns comment. The knight had managed to regain control of his primary motor functions only a few seconds after the man was gone, seconds spend staring numbly at his retreating back.

'What...What the hell just happened?'

A slight flush later the knight's gaze shifted upwards to address his pet.

'Oh, shut up.'

With sluggishness that betrayed his blatantly still lingering mental damage, Loop bend down to pick
up the the golden little coin lying at his feet. Clearing his thoughts to the best of his abilities, he took a moment to study the peculiar piece of currency. In his travels, the knight had come across many different forms of money and the symbols imprinted upon it, what was emblazoned on this 'challenger's coin' though, didn't make much sense to him. Oh well, at least he now had a solution as to how to repair his armaments.

Normally, one as cultured as Loop, would have frowned in the idea of deliberate violence, especially in the pretext of something as petty as entertainment. However, if fighting was a condition for fixing his armour, Loop didn’t really have much choice on the matter. His order’s plate was something akin to a badge of honour amongst his people, entrusting it to some second class smith would frankly be somewhat demeaning. Buying new armour when his old one was still salvageable was also out of the question. Furthermore, although he did his best not to think about it, Loop felt slight indebted to the strange man and was inclined to answer his challenge.

Giving a resigned sigh, Loop turned to move towards the ship’s medical ward in search of his ruined plate.

‘What do your opinion of this, Coil?’ He mumbled.

A minute later, Loop was back on the ship’s upper deck, a large makeshift duffle bag slung over his shoulder and looking pissed enough to throttle the first person that spoke to him.

‘One more uke joke and I’ll turn you into stew, you overgrown chicken.’ He hissed, looking penitently at the ugly creature perched on his head.

‘Just what in spring's name is a ‘yaoi fanfiction’?’ A second later Loop's face turned paper-white.

'Master was right...This world's greatest evils are made by human hands.'

Slowly, 'bickering' all the while. the pair started making their way down the ship and towards the local arena.

_________________
Made it myself. (Tukinode may not reflect the ideas of his original creator)

Arka couldn't help but think Weirdo, weirdo, weirdo, weirdo, weirdo. Over and over as he looked at strange newcomer. Although, he certainly wasn't gonna say it to his face, probably be a bad idea to irritate a coliseum champion, and he didn't exactly look like a push-over either. An eyebrow was raised at the strangers more "suggestive" comments but got a chuckle from him as he saw how uncomfortable Loop was. He smirked evilly as Loop walked inside the ship, then rapped his fingers against the ships rail. A moment later two sheathed swords and two daggers floated out of an open door to the inner ship and hovered across the deck towards Arka. Thank you, my little friends. Arka said as he slid the two daggers into pockets at his belt and pulled the two swords over his shoulders, positioning them ninja style. After that he just waited until Loop showed up again, then, after following them a little and deciding their conversation about "yaoi" wasn't important, he tapped Loop on the shoulder and stepped into pace beside him. Couldn't help but see you're going to this coliseum. I was just wondering if you wanted any help along the way from a fellow crewmate, although, I'll admit my reasons aren't that pure and innocent. Personally, I need the cash, I'm skint, so I thought we could split the winnings fifty-fifty, hey? Unless you're not going there for the money. He squinted at Loop, studying him for a moment. You're not going because of that guy who was flirting with you, are you?

_________________
“One day you wake up and realize the world can be conquered.”

[Loop Lionheart - At the docks, heading for the Colosseum]

For the second time that day, Loop found his left eye inexplicably twitching.

'Please don't think that.' Twitch. 'Ever.'

Loop took a deep breath, attempting to regain his composure, before continuing.

'Either way.' He begun with a sigh. 'It would be an honor for me to fight side by side with one of my saviors.' He said with a smile. That out of the way, Loop turned to move towards the arena, motioning Arka to walk besides him with a slight wave of his hand.

'Also, you can have the money. All i need is to repair my equipment, though, i would be grateful if you could spare a few beli. I am rather short of some necessary supplies at the moment.' Loop spoke taking a few steps forwards.

'By the way, i don't believe we've met. ' The knight suddenly exclaimed. 'It would be novel for us to fight together without knowing each other first and since proper manners dictate it, let me begin. I am Sir Loop Lionheart, Knight of the Order of the Royal Coil, Second class and I hail Twisting islands of west blue.'

Loop took a moment to point towards the Spring blade fastened on the back of his belt.

'As you can see, I'm a swordsman and thus long range combat can be a bit tedious to me. Don't expect much from me in that area.'

Coil seemed to take that as a que to take off from Loop's head and attempt to land on the head of, the apparently more interesting at the moment, Arka.

'That's Coil,' Loop supplied. 'He's an animal i picked up on one of my travels. Don't expect anything from him. He is rather useless in a fight. Completely harmless, as long as you ignore his infuriating tongue.'

A pause.

'Screw you Coil.'

_________________
Made it myself. (Tukinode may not reflect the ideas of his original creator)

Nonono. Arka said quickly, moving a hand under the bird for it to rest on. I'm afraid my head is already occupied at the moment by some animals I've picked up on one of my travels. And I think I'll just skim over the part where you think the bird can talk. He moved his arm out to hold Coil as he'd seen people do in falconry. Anyway, my name's Arka and I'm from this little place in East Blue you've probably never heard of. He carefully stroked Coil a little with one finger, the cap removed off the glove so he could actually feel it. I'm a bit of a multitasker while I fight. You'll see at the collesium, I want to surprise you. He grinned a little at the thought. Anyway, you're welcome to the repair money, so long as it doesn't cut into my half. Cute bird by the way, although I'm generally not fond of them. He ruffled in some of his pouches for a moment until he pulled out half a crumbly biscuit and raised it in front of Coil. So you're a knight of the royal coil then, what's that like? I've never heard of them but I gather birng a knight is at least interesting.

_________________
“One day you wake up and realize the world can be conquered.”

For a moment, Loop was silent, gazing contently at the seemingly peaceful interactions between avian and man. The bird in question was happily pecking away at the offered biscuit, surprisingly relinquishing its attempts to sit on Arka’s head. It was rare to see Coil follow another’s whims. Arka's apparent love for nature and its creatures seemed to somewhat sooth the usually cumbersome Coil. Loop could see why. It was faint, as faint as phantom's form beneath the morning sun. A normal man would have missed it but the the knight's preternatural senses were able to pick it up. It was like a some strange aura, a faint feeling of tranquillity that seemed to emanate from the pirate as he bonded with the creature. Loop could not help but a smile. Even in a den of pirates he found a man with such sensitivities.

Perhaps there was hope for this world yet.

'I'm not surprised you haven't heard of us.' Loop begun, turning his attention to the path ahead. 'Few have outside of West Blue. Although prestigious and powerful, our order rarely operates away from our kingdom. To say the the truth, with the exception of our marine allies in the World Government, we barely have any relations with anyone of the outside world. Elites as we are, our numbers are few and thus the order tends to have its hands full with our own matters. I'm no exception. Were it not for my king's orders, i would still be confined in the twisting islands.'

As the the knight continued his speech, his eyes grew ever so distant and a melancholic light seemed to glimmer from within those clear sapphire orbs. He took a deep breath and, tiredly, he sighed. For the first time in many months, Loop allowed himself to show some of his stowed away tear and worn.

'To answer your question, its...difficult. For us, to become a knight means more than donning armor and wielding a blade. Before one can even consider of doing either, one must shed all his weaknesses and ill will and must learn to always be of proper appearance and manners. A knight of the royal coil, in both body and mind, must always be paragon of heroism. At all times a knight must grand help to all those that need it, knowingly or not, and forever be ready to sacrifice everything, even his life, in the process. Unwanted desires and fears must be cast out. Imperfections hammered to non-existence. It is a never-ending struggle against not only one's self, but also against the world we experience. '

'For example, i myself, can truly testify that in my travels i have witnessed the true depths of darkness in which a human heart can be lost. Thankfully,' Loop turned to look silently as a their group pasted by a small, happy family of three. 'I have also seen the light they can create.'

Loop closed his eyes and, with a quick movement, cracked his neck, instantly snapping his self from his reverie.

'Past that, everything else is no different that what a marine official is to experience. We suffer through a brutal regime of never-ending, life-long conditioning and instruction. We are placed in charge of troupes and ships, made to deal with our appointed bureaucracy, train our soldiers, patrol our areas and, on occasion, attend on mundane communal events, such as royal ballroom dances and parties. Good pay, lots of respect, nice benefits, the works.That’s basically it. No, wait.’ Loop paused for second, as if attempting to recall any further details. ‘Ah! Also, some times, a rare chosen few of our ranks are send to aid our Marine allies in their operations. Say, for example, in hunting down a specific criminal or providing troop reinforcements or, even, taking command of soldiers and situations when proper marine captains are of shortage. Personally, during my training I have been in such occasions only a handful of times and only to learn from my master’s performance. Met quite a few interesting personalities then. Like that one Captain Smoker for instance. Quite the piece of work he was.’

Suddenly, Loop’s attention flickered at Coil who was still perched on Arka’s arm, completely unmoving as usual.

‘Ummm…You better move that hand of yours.’ Loop exclaimed in slight alarm, looking pointedly at the hand holding the now half-uneaten biscuit. ‘When Coil gets that tone of voice he tends to do unpleasant things.’ To verify his statement, although the bird’s expression remained constant and his gaze fixed upon the offered treat, a strangely ominous aura started to emanate from its person.

_________________
Made it myself. (Tukinode may not reflect the ideas of his original creator)

Arka nodded along as Loop started his answer, listening silently as he talked about the hardships and trials of becoming a knight, his eyes also turned towards the past also, he'd suspected it wasn't much fun. He grimaced slightly and returned to normal a little as Loop mentioned the more earthly matters. He was about to respond himself before quickly deciding to heed Loop's warning about Coil, he balanced the biscuit of the metal plate of the gloved hand he was holding Coil with and straightened his arm out, moving the bird away from his face, keeping the arm deadlocked and as stable as possible. Well, I'd say it'd do you good to travel the world, but considering you're now travelling with a group of pirates, I'm guessing it hasn't been great so far. I feel a little awkward travelling with an elite member of the law and upholder of truth and justice. He laughed awkwardly. I'm not like that myself, I could never become like that, push myself towards that ideal of perfection but I respect your determination to fight the world. It reminds me of our church back home. We were told stories about how they'd spread the faith by fire and sword, sacrifice themselves and their souls for a better world, I always thought it was a little sad to see what it's been turned into now. How the mighty have fallen...I hope you keep the strength to fight on, so long as I don't find myself on the receiving end I suppose when I'll bloody well hope you get some leniency. Another awkward little chuckle broke his chatter. I hope you remember that even the most despicable character can have a bit of light in their soul too. You...You do realise that your crewmates, me included, aren't exactly perfect, right. In fact, when I first saw you I thought for a moment you'd come for us, startled the hell out of me. So what I mean to say is, why are you not trying to kick all our heads in?In fact, if I was an outsider, I'd expect us to be tearing the hell out of each other, wrecking up this street in the process, but here we are having a perfectly pleasant conversation, although I'm still uneasy now considering you're a member of the law. As he finished, he pulled out a slightly old apple from another pocket and offered it to him. By the way, can you cut this up for me?

_________________
“One day you wake up and realize the world can be conquered.”

Hodo blinked as he saw the price to sign up for the Arena. A whopping 350,000 Berries. "Damn," he muttered, just enough for Aelelia to hear. "Do we even have that much between the entire crew?"

He craned his head towards Aelelia and said, "Maybe we should wait for that bird-brain we picked up. What was his name again? Loop, that's it. Unless I miss my guess he'll show up here eventually."

_________________

[Loop Lionheart - Walking along with Arka, approaching the arena.]

Loop gave a soft chuckle, his hand reaching out to pick up the fruit in question.

'My friend, you talk as if i expect perfection from this world.' He laughed, tossing the apple a couple of times in hand, as if judging its weight. 'Far from it. I know full well that good men can do bad things and bad men can be saints. Were the world black and white, my job would be far more easier than it is now. Then again, atleast this way, i can aid some who lost their way without having to resort to bloodshed. You'd be suprised how some talk and support can can change a man who needs it, wether he knows it or not.'

Gently, Loop threw the apple on the air. Awaiting its timely decend, the knight's right hand decended to the handle of his blade.

'No, no, i only expect perfection from myself.' He sighed. When the apple finally reached the proper height, the air exploded in a highly intricate patern of silver streams of light and the characteristic sounds of the springblade coming unseathed. The flashes washed over the fruit for seemingly no effect, before Loop casually plucked it from the air.

'As for why i am not attacking you. Its rather simple really.' He exclaimed. 'I have long since learned to be neither fanatical nor bloodthirsty, at the very least, not without reason. Reason you and crew have proven unable to supply so far. Quite the contrary, i found all of you to be very pleasant individuals. Make no mistake, though, were you slaughtering random passerbies, i would have long since introduced by sword to your throat. As it is now, you have done nothing to warrant such extreme measures and your standing ideas or profesion of choice offer little reason for me to impose either myself or my philosophies upon you. The knight's of my odrer aren't military tyrants or religious zealots. We are be guides, preachers and shields, hardly the type of individuals that would kill you for being what you are or what you say. All beings are entitled to the right to make their own choices and the right of freedom, both mental and physcial, as long as that their actions do not trumble those very same rights of another. For us, its what you do that matters.'

Gingerly holding the apple, he handed it back to Arka with a smile. Upon close inspection, one could notice two tiny, flawless cuts bisecting the apple into four perfect slices.

'Plus, it would unsightly of me to assult the people that saved my life my twice, wouldn't it?'

The knight took a moment to frown before sighing.

'Coil, i extend that very notion to you as well.'

In the entire of the conversation the bird had been in the process of violently devouring the buiscuit. With that done, Coil was rabiddly and with mechanical accuracy pecking the metal plate on Arka's hand, cawing annoyingly all the while. Apperantly he wanted, no, demanded more.

'Sorry, he can be selfish like that.' The knight paused, but for once he did not appear to listening to some unspoken conversation, instead his suprised eyes were focusing on something in the distance. Unknowngly to him, he was looking at Hodo and Aelelia as the pair stood neer the arena walls. 'Hey, Arka was it, aren't that man and girl part of your crew mates?'

_________________
Made it myself. (Tukinode may not reflect the ideas of his original creator)

Hmm? Arka's eye scanned the arena until he noticed them. I believe so, yes, what d'yah know. Small world. Then his attention turned back to the annoyed little bird. Calm down, calm down now, do you like apples then? He placed one quarter on the plate for the squaking avian. Then, he placed one amidst his own hair, immediately four black spots appeared on the whitish flesh of the fruit, one of them with a dash of red. He then bit into one quarter and offered the final one back to Loop. I wonder if he noticed me snacking on one of those slaves. Probably not, I doubt he'd have loooked over that. I'd better try and keep those tendacies out of his sight, despite his claims of their nobility. You do realise that, like even the nicest and most lovable of animals, perfectly pleasant and charasmatic pirates like myself, can reveal a much more monstrous side if we so choose. He stepped round a stray cat, keeping his arm completely level in the air. Like my one which you will probably be seeing soon.

_________________
“One day you wake up and realize the world can be conquered.”

"You are a pirate?"

A female voice quickly intervened, somewhere some few feet behind. Turning, Arka and Loop would find a young woman with dark hair standing there. Her vibrant, pink eyes flashed with the mischeivous grin flashing across her red, supple lips. "That is interesting." She stated with a slight giggle under her breath, walking forward to pace around the males, looking them over slowly. "You certainly don't look much like real pirates; Just wannabes." She snickered a bit, stopping to place her fists onto her hips. Her leather jacket's short body flapped a bit in the cool breeze, flickering over her exposed midriff. The tight, white bandages she wore over her chest and the top of her abdomen didn't do much to hide her obviously powerful curves. In fact, she seemed to stand just at the right angle to perfectly display the way her strong waist sloped and curled into her hips and bust. The tight, black skirt conforming against her strong thighs as a pair of black, heeled boots ran up into the skirt, covering all of her legs.

"But maybe you boys have some deadly secrets?" Her coy attitude shifted as she stood straight and stopped trying to tease them. "And I do love secrets~" She smiled happily, looking much more sweet and friendly after having had her fun joking and teasing.

_________________

[Loop Lionheart - Near Coliseum entrance.]

'My friend,' Loop said, gratefully receiving Arka's apple slice. 'I can surely say that i have both saved and faced individuals far more lost than you currently are. When the time comes when your acclaimed true nature surfaces, we shall see if i can do something to fix it or not.' That said, he gingerly popped the piece of fruit into his mouth.

Coil, similarly, was happily picking apart his own offering. While his features remained static, Loop could see that his pet was content with Arka's attitude towards him. Loop didn't know if he should be elated or horrified. On one hand, this meant that Coil would not cause any trouble to their new found ally, on the other, it meant that Arka was now considered by the bird as 'a useful servant' and would most probably be suffering the subsequent treatment in the future. As one afflicted with a similar fate, Loop almost wept for the man.

'Well, Coi-' At that point a female voice cut him off.

Blinking in surprise at the unexpected interruption, the knight turned to regard the girl that had spoken. His thought processes promptly came to a halt. He gazed owlishly at the woman as she approached them. His eyes scanned her from head to toe and before a frown bloomed on his face. Something clearly did not compute here. Wait! No, it couldn't be. Why? It didn't make sense. Surely it he was misunderstanding something. But….judging from her overly seductive behaviour….it must be! He chose to purposefully ignore the woman's words in order to analyze the current admittedly bizarre situation. Was someone trying to distract and ambush them? But...in such a way? It was ridiculous. His head instantly whipped at all possible avenues of potential assault, looking for any sight of an enemy. Nothing.

Seriously. What on earth was, what was obviously from appearance and behaviour, a concubine of all things, doing in the middle of the day asking an obviously dangerous and armed pair of complete strangers to tell her their secrets?

Then it hit him.

'Excuse me but if i may, I think that your handler wants to get you killed.' He exclaimed, his tone of voice grave and serious. 'Don't worry though. Just lead me to him and I'll straighten everything out.'

At the sound of his words, Coil turned to regard Loop. The avian then proceeded to stare at him for a full second, turn away and takr off from Arka's hand with his intended landing zone being the girl's head.

'Hey! I am not an overly sheltered idiot!' The knight abruptly yelled, visibly startling a few random passerbies with his random outburst. A few meters away, a woman covered her son's eyes and slowly backed away from the, apparently, mentally unstable swordsman.

_________________
Made it myself. (Tukinode may not reflect the ideas of his original creator)

Arka immediately tensed up slightly at the sight of the strange girl, for three reasons, one was that she didn't look like a resident, two was that she'd just happily started talking to two pirates and begun interogating them, and three was that his libido felt like it had just taken a hit with a steel bar. He quickly forced that reason down though, he didn't need that distracting him at the moment. Well, if it was obvious that we were pirates I doubt we'd be able to just walk through the street like this without causing a riot now. He took off his glasses and pulled out a hankerchief. Bloody sand. Anyway, even if we weren't pirates, we aren't idiots, which is what we would be if we just told some skank in the middle of a strange street our "deadly secrets." By the way, that's what you look like. He put his glasses back on and blinked owlishly, rubbing some dirt out of his eye. Quite a cute one but anyway... he drifted off as Loop started talking, turning to look at him with amazement. Ok, he's a bit of an idiot, but I'm not. He flicked his now unoccupied arm, trying to get some of the pains out of it. Besides, if we told you our secrets, we wouldn't have something you love then, would we? He relaxed a little himself now, grinned back at this newcomer. Tell you what, how about you tell us something about you, and then we'll tell you something about us? We'll...I'll be lying, but anyway.

_________________
“One day you wake up and realize the world can be conquered.”

{Mister Stitch& Sow}

_Secret Office_

" She managed to kill the original gem warlord, I doubt that was an easy task and then surrounded by an army of gem warlord pirates." Stitch& Sow said as he had investigated this matter once before, however, he never had enough evidence to suggest who exactly it was the killer. Based on what he had, he had assumed it was mutiny. " Life and fight again, another day or die there. She made the right choice." He remarked

" I'm just stubborn so that's why I would make the stupid choice." Stitch& Sow admitted as Maklizid had already witness his stubbornness. He finished reading and memorizing the documents Malikizid handed to him by setting them down on his desk in a neat and organized pile. " And yes, the thought has cross my mind." He said as he sat up from his spot. " With everything, you gave me and what I've seen so far, that dream will come sooner than you think."

" To start, I need to confront Emerald, and test my hypnosis. If the gems can grant special capabilities, and if some else can use another's Gem like in the case with my wife and the former Amethsyt , then it should be possible for me to use one myself." Stitch& Sow said, explaining his plan of action. " As I am now, I need a boost in my abilities to fight them."

_________________
"Fate smiles on the strange. So its a good thing, I'm the strangest of all." - William Livingstone, Cirque de la Nuit

{Near Coliseum}

Ekora immediately waved a finger at the bird, shaking her head. "Not the hair. And certainly not without permission. You may take a shoulder." She stated abruptly to the bird, knowing fully what it had intended. And knowing her hair would dislike the bird trying to land in it, the bird would likely be skewered and strangled by the living strands if it tried to land there still.

Ekora turned back to the men, lightly smiling. Her expression now seemed more an attempt to just remain cordial. "Oh, but I didn't ask for your secrets, sugar. Just said that I love them. The mystery is a large part of the appeal. I'd frankly prefer to figure it out myself." Her eyes then looked over to Loop after replying to Arka. "And jabs on looks aside, if your friend mentions again that he seriously thinks that I am what he imagines and assumes, I'll bury him alive... That's where I draw the line."

She then tapped a finger on her chin. "Now... You boys look like you just came into town today." She sniffed a bit, arching an eyebrow. "And on some moldy, rotten wood from the smell of it." She squinted her eyes a bit, mildly disgusted by the scent.

_________________

[Loop Lionheart - Near Coliseum entrance.]

'What? I-i was wrong?' Loop squawked, utterly flustered. Like a man struck by lighting, he bowed his head, eyes tightly shut, and bringing an arm across his midriff he executed a slight bow. 'I am so horribly and deeply sorry! How improper for me, a man of the court, to judge a woman by her appearance. I am still unfit to be called a knight!’ He shouted, bowing slightly with every admission of guilt.

During the knight’s 'heartfelt' apology, Coil was nonchalantly fluttering his way towards the woman. Completely against her request, the avian creature didn’t even think twice at swerving around Ekora’s outstretched arm, coming closer to her head with every flap of the wings. Coil had already indulged another’s wishes for today and was in no mood to repeat the act twice.

At that moment, Loop raised his head to gaze directly at Ekora’s eyes, his own cobalt orbs alit with a striking determination. Resolutely setting his jaw, he spoke.

‘Please, allow me too-‘

And was swiftly struck silent mid-sentence when, from the corner of his eyes, he saw Coil pause his flight path at a mere inch from his desired landing zone. The bird appeared to reconsider before moving to perch himself on the woman’s shoulder instead. This was…unusual, to say the least. As if sensing his distress, the bird-like being turned to address him.

Loop’s eyes narrowed.

‘I see…Arka.’ He exclaimed, turning to look at his temporary crew-mate. While the knight could not vocally announce it, the unease Coil had just expressed spoke volumes for this woman’s danger level. As an animal, Coil unfortunately lacked proper sense of self-preservation, a trait that always seemed to get both him and Loop into unpleasant circumstances. Indeed, his pet’s lack situational perception was nothing short of legendary, yet at this very instance, just before his claws had touched Ekora’s hair, Coil had sensed danger. Danger intense enough to awaken some slumbering animal instinct and cause him to change his course.

Loop’s eyes bore straight at the other man’s own, silently relating a warning. Beware, the knight’s eyes said sending a quick indicating glance at the woman’s hair, this one is not normal.

'As i was saying,' Loop continued, turning back to Ekora. 'Please allow me to answer your questions as an apology for my poor conduct. Yes, our ship made port at this island a mere few hours ago. Though, i have to admit, I find myself surprised that you managed to guess the state of our vessel by scent alone. Are your familiar with ships, madam...?' Taking the opportunity, the knight made an attempt to smoothly turn this interrogation around.

_________________
Made it myself. (Tukinode may not reflect the ideas of his original creator)

Arka raised an eyebrow, his grin growing at her little threat, a negative response was still a response, and she looked like the type of girl that would make good on her promise too. Perfect, it sounded like she could talk nicely and he was sure she could walk nicely too also, he'd be watching from behind to see. What? Arka asked casually. He glanced at Loop and immediately noticed the signs radiating from him, gods, the man was like an open book, he may as well voice his suspicions. He nodded at Loop, showing he'd recognised his feelings and turned back to face "Madam." He already knew she was a threat, normal people didn't just walk up to people they thought were pirates and start chatting away with them, and certainly didn't threaten them themselves, the only question was what level she was. He was quietly confident though that thanks to the knight templar behind him, he would have a team-mate, meat shield, bait or distraction if necessary. It's really not that surprising Loop, considering I haven't been able to set up the plumbing yet, I'm more impressed she was able to pick out the smell of the wood from...other scents. I hope she's just learnt to recognise the smells of wood, cause to be able to pick out any scent like that, would be creepy. Also, those other scents I mentioned might be what's given the impression that the wood's rotten, sweetie. He flashed another smile at Ekora, before his eyes moved slightly away from her to Coil, the grin freezing a little. He started ruffling through his pockets again for another morsel to tempt the little birdy back with.

_________________
“One day you wake up and realize the world can be conquered.”

~Aelelia~

Aelelia looked back as someone called her name. It took her a moment to recognize the man calling her, as there hadn't really been a point where the crew had sat down and introduced themselves to each other. "H... Hodo!" She gave him a smile, then looked up at the coliseum before them. "Join the tournament? I dunno. I really just came over here to see what was going on." Then he asked if she were strong, and her nose crinkled as her smile vanished momentarily. "I dunno about strong. The way I fight doesn't really require much strength. I'm pretty confident in my reaction skills though." She smiled again, and looked up at the arena coliseum once more. Maybe joining the tournament wouldn't be such a bad idea. She looked at the paper listing the entry fee and sighed. "It's possible, but I doubt that we could get the entire crew to lend us that much." She looked back at Hodo as he suggested that they wait for the knight who was traveling with them. "And why would we need to wait for him?"

_________________
Zath: Behold, Karo: The only woman in existence who can make Fenix shut the fuck up.
Redsnow: That, and, frankly, if Karo doesn't like you that much, your character is probably going to die soon after his acceptance anyway.
Keiran: Bad RPs don't get picked, unmemberable RPs get ignored.
Zelosse: I don't usually laugh at blatant attitude, but when I do. It usually involves Karo.

Hodo shrugged at Aelelia's question and matter-of-factly said, "Because he's a knight under the employ of a king. Which means he has a job, which means he probably has money we could borrow." He turned to her with a weak grin. "Right?"

_________________

-Malkizid's office-


The mans stern features nodded with the information he was hearing, a plan coming to mind but being moved to the side for other more practical matters. It wouldn't be long until the gemlords knew of the arrival on their scoutship since ruby and sapphire had taken a faster route, reachning this island close to 5 or 6 hours ahead of this crew.
Yet something tickled his mind for a moment, a fleeting feeling really. Why hadn't ruby simply killed them outright? Sapphire would have atleast captured them and held all of the crew in iron somewhere within the palace's dungeons. Two things suddenly sprang into Malkizid's mind and he nearly tipped over his chair as he stood up so quickly with a panicked look.
"Your friend, the gambler who you came in with, if my hunch is correct there was a man playing cards with him and some locals earlier. The person he was gambling with is a very dangerous man, the current regant of this island!" Wiping sweat from his brow, Malkizid stepped away from his desk and picked up a small den-den mushi in the side before asking about Jack. His answer was not a good one.
"Damnit all, Jack's been lured out. There are tunnels beneath this city that only a few dozen people know about. Less who can navigate it. If you can find the path they took you should be able to get the drop on the regant of this place and keep Jack out of harm..." His thoughts raced again before taking a seat. "Be warned though, Ruby let you all live. This is part of that psychopaths little game."

Outside of the room that Malkizid and Stitch occupied now stood a guard ordered in by Malkizid, ready to escort the man to the underground tunnel entrance.

-Coliseum grand doors-


The kindly man who stood infront of the gate began to scratch his head in annoyance at the crowd standing a few feet from him, thinking loudly to himself; Those damn pirates are scaring away my customers! Damnit if I can't get them outta here we're gonna lose business.. With a resigned sigh, the doorman gave a shrill whistle to the group of pirates. "Oi! Either sign up to get your face smashed open in the coliseum matches or get the hell outta the way, I got better things to do than listen to your small-talk! TIME IS MONEY!"
Crossing his stubby arms across his rather stout chest, the doorman gave one final 'humph' of annoyance before looking to his right where a guard stood patiently. If they didn't shove off in about 30 seconds he'd send in the guards to clear the path.

During the short time when the crews attention was turned towards the yelling doorman, a figure strode behind Loop for a brief moment slipping a small note into his hand without even the slightest of movements before returning to being a part of the scenary.
The note did not bode well for him, on it was a warning.

"We are watching you Mr.Lionheart, to see how such a mighty warrior has fallen to the rank of a pirate fills us with disgust, yet we are happy to be done with another useless 'knight'. Rest assured that you will receive punishment for associating with these scum!" The note had an official Marine seal on it.


-Jack Valentine-


With a never-flinching smile, the regant and Jack continued to play their cards fruitlessly for what seemed like hours with each gaining the upperhand before losing it on the next hand. Completely even in skill until Jack's luck finally won out, almost 30 million was now in his hands for the taking in a short amount of time. The smile on the regeants face lowered a little bit at the loss to someone else so outlandish.
"I concede this card game, but I wonder if perhaps you would be interested in something a little more interesting. Coliseum matches start in half an hour and they always put on a good show, whats say we bet on blood." At the word 'blood', a sentry from the hallway took a slight step to the side so Jack could see him.

_________________

[Jack Valentine] "Raising the stakes"

Jack picked up his winnings and pocketed them, well put them in his swag sack but it was all the same. At the mention of betting on blood Jack wondered who's blood the man actually meant, Jack didn't mind betting on himself in contests of skill and prowess but betting on others fighting was a little too barbarian for Jack's taste. Jack also happened to notice that at the mention of blood a guard seemed to step into view, this put him a little more on edge than he had been on the way here. "I don't bet on other's killing each other, when it comes to combat the only man I bet on is myself but that's because I'm a sure win." Jack replied smugly but not without a sense of deserved self confidence, this man he was with was beginning to become more and more intriguing as well as more and more suspiciously familliar.

_________________

{Coliseum Entrance}

"I like to garden, so I know the difference between fertilizer and mold, boy." She stated while reaching up to stroke the bird's feathers once to thank him for using her shoulder. "In fact, one is just ambient around your clothes. The other seems quite pugnant each time you open your mouth. So, I'm curious about what kind of cook you actually have on that rotting ship you're using." She lightly grinned before moving on. "But I make it my business to know the scent of rotting wood. Gotta know when you have good materials when you're constructing a ship."

Ekora ignored Loop's odd behavior. Mainly, she could guess what the issue was, since it wasn't the first time a pet nearly went for her hair. She did pay attention, though, when a man looked as if he tried picking Loop's pockets. Likely it wouldn't have been noticed, except Ekora had a direct line of sight with Loop and Arka. She nearly tried to stop him before realizing the man had nothing in his hands after. "Huh... Did he just..." She lifted her gaze a bit, trying to watch for the guy, but failing as he vanished into the crowd massing inside the entrance.

_________________