Serious: Fires of war, frosts of silence (closed)

"IQ..." he muttered. As Silt continued, he spoke. "I know what you speak of." He said. "I know it exists. I have used it. My theory knowledge of it may be lacking, but I know how it works." He spoke. He was about to admonish Silt for the fairy tale comment, but the whisper caught his ear. "Yes..."

Gael thought about it. "So, I'm assuming that's why you where in that manor and distracted me? Why would you care enough to tell me this? It's definitely not out of the goodness of your heart, is it?"

Silt responded with a slow, near croaking voice. "Why do you ally with the World Government?"

A random fishman's corpse flew overhead, with bite marks marking the body.

"Ryo!" The giant flying frog swiped the corpse into it's hands. "What is this?" Dynar questioned. "When did the fishmen get to this?"

Gael smiled. "Because the power of the World Goverment lets you go nearly anywhere unimpaired. As an agent, you are forced to do very specific assignments. As a Marine, you're stationed to one place and very rarely move. As a pirate, you have free range to go wherever you like. As a Yonkou, you have to worry about Marine attacks. As a Shichibukai, all those worries vanish. You can go wherever you like without worry of attack. And I use that as an opportunity to help people wherever I can."

Gael turned and yelled, "Good boy, Fenrir! I'll send you some help!" Gael quickly made two Mannequins to aid Fenrir. Gael returned to Silt and replied, "Why do you ask?"

Silt tilted his head. "Anywhere? Even to places they know nothing about?"

He made it a point to ignore Dynar's question concerning the phantom fish peoples' seemingly 'random' appearance.

Gael smirked. "Please don't argue semantics against me, I'm horrible at that. What do you want?" He was really interested in IQ now, but he tried to hide it.

Silt hesitated for a moment. The path he was taking was a distasteful one, but the consequences were worse. There were waves audible in the background; they were close to the docks of the island.

"Your 'humble establishment' has power and eyes over all the lands of this earth. But only this earth alone. They know little of the world above their heads, nor of this herb. You can find this land where no government will be there to take it from you, where no government can take this wonder of nature and defile it to their own ends. You have next to nothing to gain from my captivity, but all to gain for my freedom" He held the parchment up to eye level in his left hand. "the path to this land can be yours to travel, if you let me go."

He severely doubted Gael, as a pirate, would uphold the deal however.

"Whoever, you are, your bargain is not very exclusive." Dynar remarked from the back of the frog. "I have been there. I know the way far better than you every could."

((Oh this sucks. I was gonna have Gael learn how to grow it himself.))

Gael sighed. "I'm not sure why the Marines want you so badly. I REALLY want IQ to be left alone..." He envisioned IQ and grew it out of his palm. "You and I, and maybe that guy up there, are the only ones who know of it." The IQ shriveled in his hand and he crushed it in his fist. "But the thing is... all I need to stop it from being taken is that map in your hand, right? If Martello there can give me a good reason why I shouldn't let you go, then I'll have to stop you... if not... Martello looks like he could use a nap."

((oops. didn't know that was the plan. sorry.))

Silt turned to Dynar, and tilted his head. "Let me guess, Strong World?" he sighed like a man exhaling his last breath before death. "Not quite the place i was talking about. Not anymore, at least. Are you aware of the ignorant others that have found the place since you left it? Chances are that the poachers that have found the place have stepped on whatever remains of the I.Q. plants there. They no doubt had no idea what they found there. However, neither you nor they know of another land. Know what a knock up stream is?" Silt asked.

He knew he recognised the map of that land; it seemed that none of the government officials had understood what the map actually represented. None of them knew of I.Q., yet they kept the document. They definitely did not know about the plants, he knew that for a fact, otherwise the war would not have happened to begin with. The only thing other than the map drawn on the paper were smudged initials on the back.

((Its fine... but now I'm between a rock and a moderately hard place...))

((how come?))

((Gael wants IQ, so he wants to let him go, but that would get him in trouble. He also wants to capture you to stay in good graces, but that might make him unable to protect that IQ source.))

((ive got a way))

"Well, well, well," a voice announced from behind the barricade of trees and vines behind Silt. "I never knew thieves actually reveled in fair trade. Humans are quite unpredictable though."

((Thank you so much!))

Gael was surprised, but kept his cool. He was prepared to defend himself if need be, and Fenrir was almost quite literally right behind him. "Who are you?" Gael asked forcefully, but with a slight tinge of confused fright in his voice.

((No problem, but please specify. When you said you wanted Gael to learn how to grow them, what does that mean? im curious))

There was a sound of metal rending wood and plants apart, and the trees fell, chopped to three pieces each horizontally; the fishmen gave a loud cheer as a new fishman with a bandage wrapped horizontally across his face on where his nose would have been stepped over the ruined foliage.

"Oh," Salvat D. Jocar said, raising one scaled brow. "Am i interrupting something?"

((If Gael sees a picture of it, learns its characteristics, then he can learn how to generate a copy of that plant. If he sees the genuine article in person, he can make it flawlessly and instantly. If not, he has to hone it. The book he got is really detailed, so he can learn how to grow IQ fairly easily.))

"A little bit," Gael replied, his hair over his eyes. Fenrir was worried and ran to right behind Gael, still keeping his foes from getting too close.

((hmm, so, was the plan for Gael to view the plant in person?))

"So it would seem." Salvat responded, then added "Love what you've done with the place by the way. Good to know that you humans still enjoy playing around with nature."

Silt was silent and still; if he felt any fear or anger, it plainly did not show.
.

((Nope, the book is detailed enough that he can grow IQ properly in a few days. The book's even got a picture.))

"Thanks, I appreciate it," Gael said sarcastically. This guy was here for a reason, and he hoped it didn't involve him.

"Who are you?" The green-haired man on the flying giant frog asked. He leaned in to whisper to his frog, so one one else would hear. "Ryo. Be ready." Dynar was ready to fight in case the fishman turned out to be a threat.

"Right," Salvat sighed. "Who we are might not matter to you, so we shall say who we are here for instead." He pointed to Silt. "You see, this one has been a thorn in our side for quite a while. We have tried to catch him, time and time again, yet he always has managed to elude us." Salvat smirked at Silt "But you've been treading on thin and thinner ice still, my morose friend."

He looked back at Gael.

"Hand him over to us, and we shall leave your sight, and never bother this place again."

Silt was now starting to fidget with his fingers.

"For my own good, I should leave." Dynar said. "However, as a biologist, I cannot leave the only lead to the unspoiled plant go to waste." Kaori continued. His frog made menacing looks at Salvat. It seemed to understand this perfectly. "Are you ready to face one of the greatest beasts to ever grace the skies?" Dynar asked, rarely having met a match for both him and his frog.

Silt continued to fidget with his fingers at his side. The other fishmen were watching the spectacle warily; they had obviously never seen an organism which had evolved through I.Q. before.

Salvat was silent for a moment, then chuckled. "I see. Always nosy, you humans are." Salvat said. "You want the parchment in his hands, do you?" he turned to Silt. "Better give him a parting gift, my sad little friend."

Silt continued to fidget with his fingers; then, in the dim light, a part of the air briefly glimmered, as if the moon light shone on something.

Gael sighed. "You're gonna hurt in some way, I expect. The Marines would most likely do no less if they caught him. Therefore... take him. He interrupted my reading and escaped me too long. I'm sure you can handle him better than I could." He turned, gently turned and grabbed his bag from Martello while muttering some thanks. He walked down the alley, leaving Fenrir to backstep behind him and stop Silt from trying to escape while Gael's back was turned. He planned to find a restaurant and read his book in there.