Serious: The Squall Pirates Chapter 3: Town of Shadows (Open to the Squall Pirates)

Daniel was laying on his back on top of the cabin of his ship, 'The New Dawn'. He was staring up at the slowly drifting clouds with his eyes half-closed, which was almost giving him the appearance of being asleep. He and Jimi had been making good time on their way to the next island. From his limited navigating abilities, Daniel figured that they should be seeing the next island soon, though admittedly soon was a relative term when it came to him. He figured that he should just go ahead and ask Jimi and see what the other man thought.

As Daniel sat up, he stretched, cracking his back. He looked around the deck, which now felt very empty. Sophie was no longer with them. Barely two days after they left Redmont Island, a large, heavily armed ship came along to get her. At first Daniel had been prepared to fight off the ship, thinking it might be Sophie's mother again, but when it turned out that the ship had been hired by Sophie's father and that he had come personally to pick her up, Daniel had done nothing, but instead he let her go. He missed her presence, but in a strange way he felt relieved. He was supposed to be a pirate after all, not a babysitter.

Daniel stood and moved to the edge of his perch, staring out over the ocean. It was then that he realized that there was a thin black line far off into the distance. He narrowed his eyes, straining to make out the line. It looked almost like an island, though he couldn't be sure unless...then he remembered. His log pose. Jimi had one already so Daniel had kept his own log pose so that he could at least know whether or not they were going in the right direction. Not that he touched the wheel much these days, but it still gave him something to do.

Daniel looked down at his log pose and checked and sure enough, it was pointing straight in the direction of the line. It seemed that Jimi knew exactly what he was doing. With a grin, Daniel hopped down from his perch. He was so focused that he didn't notice the dark clouds that were forming over the island up ahead.

"Not a second late!" Jimi shouted from his spot in the crow's nest. His Afro was blowing in the wind as he held a map min his right hand. In the time that passed since the fight with Toge, Jimi's hand managed to get better, to the point where he could hold stuff with it without choking himself with pain. It was still unpleasant to look at, but most of the burnt skin scaled off and it was getting better with every passing day. "Mayflower Island, just on time" Jimi said, "Our next stop".

He turned to see his captain, Daniel, hoping down from his perch and observing the far island. "Feels great huh? cheating nature like that?" Jimi asked and held his Log Pose up. The truth was that Jimi hated navigating as long as he studied it with his father, but after he left home and started navigating for real, he enjoyed it. The great feeling of reaching a destination was almost euphoric, but Jimi knew something that most people wouldn't. The annoying wind, the clouds that got denser with every knot they've passed, the slowly dropping temperatures, the day wasn't going to be sunny anymore.

"You should probably go and fetch some extra clothing D.D., it's a stormy weather we're approaching" Jimi said as he zipped up his red jacket. D.D. was a nickname that Jimi had for Daniel, along with Windy-boy and Captain H. D.D. stood for Daniel D, which was the first part of Daniel's name. He had no idea if Daniel liked those nicknames or not, but Jimi gave everyone nicknames. "Mayflower island is a fall island, so the temperatures are usually low, but judging from the cloud formations and the winds, our timing is quite bad."

Daniel caught what Jimi was saying and squinted, looking in the direction of the island. He saw the clouds this time and nodded as his reply to Jimi.

"Yeah, it certainly looks like it's going to be bad weather," Daniel agreed. "Huh, and here I was, hoping that the Grandline wouldn't start acting up until we had gotten a few more crew mates. Or at least one guy who can swim."

Daniel had been thinking about that for the last couple of days. Both he and Jimi were strong, but if things came to a water fight, they were pretty much useless. Even if one of them simply tripped and fell overboard, that person would drown while the other could only look on, helplessly. That issue was one that Daniel hoped he could rectify soon enough.

Far off in the distance, the storm was still growing larger. It was starting to encompass the whole island and was spreading out over the ocean. Daniel frowned at it and he raised one hand and held it out in the direction of the storm. He considered the storm for a couple of seconds, but then he sighed and lowered his hand again without actually attempting anything.

"It looks like we're going to have to just sail through it to get to the island," Daniel called up to Jimi. "I might be able to blow it away with my Kaze powers if I spent a few weeks just practicing pushing air around, but that would waste a lot of time. And considering the strange weather here in the Grandline, we could be stuck out here that whole time. Not to mention...well, I didn't want to tell you this but..." Daniel looked embarrassed as confessed: "...I kinda forgot to restock up on supplies while we were back on Redmont Island so we're getting a little bit low on food and fresh water. But all of that is beside the point." Daniel turned back and grinned up at Jimi. "What kind of pirates would we be if we let a little storm hold us back?"

"The worst kind" Jimi answered with a blinding smile. Navigating through a storm was the ultimate challenge of any navigator, and he would gladly try it. He expanded his afro a bit, to warm himself better, the weather seemed to be getting worse, it could catch up to their ship in ten minutes, even less, and rain wasn't the best thing that could happen to a devil fruit user.

"You know..." Jimi said, trying to figure out if his idea was worth sharing. "This storm seems to be growing bigger, and since we're not gonna wait it out, it might be a good idea to try and cover as much naval distance before it hits us. You know, get to shore quicker so we'll have solid ground under our feet" Jimi said. As a pair of devil fruit users, fighting a storm on solid ground was obviously better than on a cruising ship, and with Daniel's powers, they could accelerate the ship without any effort.

He sniffed the air to try and judge the air temperature, it was definitely getting colder. The ways were getting taller as well, reacting to the accelerating wind. It wasn't anything major yet, but judging by the speed in which the air was cooling down everything could go worse in a matter of minutes.

Daniel nodded, although he didn't comprehend what Jimi meant right away. Of course they should cover as much distance as possible. Why would that matter to him? Unless there was some way for him to increase their speed...

Daniel jumped back up on top of the cabin he had been laying on moments before. He turned to face the sail and extended both of his hands, palms out in front of him. He closed his eyes and reached out into the winds surrounding him. Within an instant they had answered his call. A powerful gust blew across the roof where Daniel was standing, nearly knocking him off of it. The gust slammed into the sail and pushed it forward to the max.

"HANG ON!" Daniel yelled over the sudden gale.

Jimi's prediction was coming true. The storm was worsening every second as they approached the island.

Daniel laughed insanely as the storm grew worse around them. He was having the time of his life. Unfortunately, it wasn't to last.

With all of the wind blowing around them and waves growing steadily larger, it was only a matter of time before the combined forces caused some real damage. Even so, Daniel was totally unprepared when a wave crashed over the ship, soaking the cabin's roof that he was standing on. He glanced down at his feet for a moment and his gale slacked off...which had the double effect of allowing another gust of wind to blow through and hit him with all of its might.

Daniel stumbled, completely off balance as he careened across the roof. He slipped and plummeted off the ship, down towards the dark water below. Perhaps he could have used his powers to sweep himself back onto the ship, but that thought never occurred to the bewildered pirate captain until he had already sunk beneath the waves. And after he had struck the waves, another thought came to him: The thought that he probably should have held his breath before he had fallen in.

(OOC: Sleepy, you can do as you want with Jimi. Have him fall in as well if you want. Or keep him on board and have him sail to safety. Regardless of what you choose, this is the point where a new character is going to step into the picture.)

Jimi's seemingly bright idea turned out to be a recipe for disaster, he had no idea how powerful Daniel's gusts can be. At first it seemed that they were going to make it to he island before a single drop of water would spot them, but the waves got bigger the closer they got. Jimi was trapped in the crows' nest, where the winds were stronger than on deck due to the lack of obstacles. He grabbed the nest's railing as strong as he could and ducked down into it to cover himself from the wind. he pocketed his sunglasses so they won't fly off and prayed for the best, but all it took was one wave to get Daniel's powers off-balance and tilt the entire ship.

Jimi noticed the large wave a second before he hit the ship. "Slow down!" He shouted, but his shouts were lost in the wind. He raised his head over the nest's railing to signal Daniel to stop but it was too late, Daniel's powers stopped affecting the wind.

The ship was violently slowed down due to the lack of back wind and the sudden change in the wind streams, which made Jimi fall off the nest towards the deck. He would have managed to land on the deck if it wasn't for the head sail. Another violent gust pushed the sail towards him, making it slap his entire body in a powerful motion and sending him to the railing. His last hope was to grab the railing, but he could only reach it with his burnt right hand. He tried, for he couldn't allow himself fall overboard. The pain was excruciating, but the rush of adrenaline allowed him to overcome it and pull himself back to the deck. He wasn't out of danger yet, as he was a devil fruit user trapped on a ship in the middle of a raging storm, but he allowed himself a sigh of relief. "You ok D.D.?" Jimi shouted. He raised his head to look for his captain, but couldn't see him anywhere. "Mother nature you ruthless BI*CH!" He shouted as he realized what happened: Daniel fell overboard.

Having now finally escaped the Marines who had been chasing him for the crime he committed, Laik shook his head smiling. Like they wouldn't have done the same if they were in his situation. No one wants to be left on the streets left to fend for themselves. If given the chance anyone would've jumped at the chance to be a noble instead of one of the homeless. He felt his hair tickle his upper back as he directed his small submarine he'd made.

It wasn't a great submarine and needed much work, it had helped him so far but it was shoddily built and he knew it, but it was only a first attempt at a submarine sooner or later he would eventually come up with one which was much better and which didn't leave him ankle deep in ocean water when he submerged. Laik looked down at the water and knew he had to fix the leaks. He raised a small periscope up just above the water's surface and saw an island.
"Perfect" muttered Laik before he sat back down at the controls in time to see someone sinking down in front of his submarine. He was surprised to see a person sinking as they normally floated.

Being the good guy he was he wasn't ready to left this man drown, and climbed up to the entrance to his submarine and sealed the door behind him to stop water sinking in then opened the next door which lead out into the cold waters of the sea. As Laik opened the door and water rushed in he felt a chill rush over his body and his long hair felt weightless. Swimming from the submarine he looked down at it and realised it didn't look to great either, another thing he would have to sort out if he was going to become a decent shipwright.

Forgetting about his submarine Laik looked down to try and spot the man who'd sunk down past his submarine, he found it hard to see him among the darkness which grew the deeper you went and began swimming down after him as quickly as he could manage. Laik spotted something off in the distance of the water, it was a different colour to everything else and he swam closer and closer to it. As he got closer and closer he started to notice what it was.

It was the man who'd sank like an anchor, he never understood why a person would manage to sink like an anchor but decided that would be something for him to worry about at later date, something he could ask the guy himself if he was still alive.

He could feel in his lungs he still had just enough breath to get himself and the man back to his submarine, but if the man weighed allot then he might have some trouble. He grabbed hold of his shirt and pulled him up over his shoulder, he still had to swim back up till they were both safe though. He could feel the weight of the man was pulling him down instead of a buoyancy which most normal people had and felt confused by this. It was something he'd never come across before.

Laik began kicking his legs faster and harder to get himself and the man back up, as he managed to start moving on upwards he could feel a strong current in the waters and guessed there must be some sort of storm up on the surface of the waters. This would explain why a man was down here, probably knocked over board, but why he was sinking and felt so heavy in water was something he knew nothing about. He felt the current pull him and found himself kicking harder and harder till he escaped it and managed to get back to his submarine.

Laik climbed in through the first door with the man and opened a slide on the wall to allow the water in the chamber to exit back out into the sea. Laik inhaled happily before entering the actual submarine and carrying the man who now felt less heavy over to a small table. Laik wasn't great at CPR but he knew it. He could feel his heart racing from exerting so much energy carrying the man up in the water and swimming against the current. Laik brushed his hair all back then looked around as if searching to see if anyone else was there, feeling self concious about what he was going to do.

He could feel tiny fish small enough to swim through the leaks in his submarine swimming around his ankles but he wasn't worried about them seeing him.

Daniel

The water was dark, deep, and swirling in an endless motion as it pulled Daniel down, deeper and deeper into its abyss. He had originally tried, and failed, to force himself upwards, but his body was locked in position and there was nothing he could do.

For the first time in two years, Daniel regretted eating his devil fruit. Sure, it added to his power, but at the same time it made traveling the seas incredibly dangerous, especially since his only crew mate was someone who was also unable to swim.

Daniel could feel his lungs starting to burn, screaming for air, and he tried one last time to force his limbs to move. Still nothing. It looked like this was the end. He would drown in this place, a pirate captain who had lasted less than a week. What a wasted life. His parents would be ashamed.

What little oxygen remained in his lungs was soon gone. The darkness that surrounded Daniel took hold of him and swallowed him up. He was going...going...gone...

...and then suddenly he was back. Daniel gasped and his eyes snapped open. He was laying on a table in some sort of room with a man leaning over him. The man's face was moving towards Daniel, his mouth coming down like he was about to kiss him.

Never before that moment had Daniel ever moved so fast. The wind whipped around his body, propelling him off the table and onto the floor. He fell in a heap, his half-dead legs giving out underneath him. A moment later he had spun around and was in a crouch, staring up at the man suspiciously. Daniel had no idea where he was or who this man was or why the floor was so wet and he was not going to let his guard down.

Daniel was about to speak and ask the man some questions, when he dropped onto his hands and knees, coughing and hacking up water that he had breathed in. He felt so weak right then. He doubted whether or not he could even put up a fight, assuming this man's intentions were less than honorable.

Mayflower Island; Behind the Mayflower Canal Maintenance Office

A man slumped against the building behind him, his whole body shaking with fear. On his right and left were several bodies, each laying in their own pools of blood. Three figures stood before him in a line.

The middle person was an attractive young woman. She looked like she was barely out of her teens. She was dressed in a sleeveless, dark green tank top with spaghetti straps. Overtop of this she wore a dark leather jacket, the front of which was open, showing her shirt beneath. She also wore black denim jeans and dark brown boots. Her long, dark blue hair had been tied back in a bun.

The two figures flanking the woman were both male, both tall and relatively thin, both barracuda fishmen, and both twins. The two fishmen were identical down to the tattoos they had on their arms. The only thing that separated them was their vests, one of which was blue and the other was red. Besides the vests they each wore only a pair of tan shorts.

The man opened his mouth to cry for help, but before he could say a word the woman shot forward and slammed into him, pressing him against the wall behind him. He let out a tiny whimper and fell to the ground, the light in his eyes fading away. The woman took a step back and there was a flash of silver as she slid a dagger back under her jacket and out of sight.

Turning, the woman walked past the fishmen who proceeded to move forward and lift the bodies. They began placing them in garbage bags and filling the bags with rocks. When they were finished, they tossed the bags into a nearby canal, one that came directly out of the maintenance building.

The woman watched all of this silently. There was no doubt in her mind that the bodies would be found, but by the time they were, it would be far too late.

Jimi looked over the railing for a few desperate moments, trying to locate the shape of Daniel's body inside the gashing bowl of death water, but the dark skies made the water dark as well, and the foam that the waves carried blocked his field of vision. He stayed over the railing for about a minute, until his sense of reason overcame his emotions. It's true, he just lost his captain, but he was still a devil fruit user on a ship in the middle of a storm, there was no benefit in letting himself drown so he could grief. He took a deep breath and stepped away from the railing. the island was pretty close, it shouldn't take him more than a few minutes to reach it.

He clumsily walked along the soaked deck, doing his best not to slip or let the wind carry him. When he finally reached the helm, he grabbed it with all of his might, using it as an anchor so he won't fly. Navigating a ship through a storm on his own was impossible. The ship had no engine, and using the sails without Daniel's powers was too risky, he might get dragged back into the ocean instead of towards the island, but luck shined upon him and the wind seemed to carry the ship towards the island. He let go of the helm and rushed to the anchor, if the wind would change it's course he'll stop the ship.

After 5 excruciating minutes Jimi reached shallow waters, and the danger was behind him. He looked at the island he was about to board. It was filled with seawater canals, that were now slightly raging, but he should be able to navigate the ship into one of them and anchor it there. He turned the helm so the ship would inch into one of the wider canals and started whistling. He whistled a song that the sailors he sailed with sang when one of their mates got lost at sea. He couldn't remember any of the words, but he hoped the sea would forgive him for that and wash Daniel into one of the canals.

Seeing the man open his eyes and fall from the table Laik sighed and took a step back as the man fell form the table and landed on his foot. "Ow!" Laik was glad to see him awake and was curious why he fell from the table when there was nothing which shook his submarine.

Laik looked at the man and saw he had started coughing up water and Laik patted his back. He felt relieved that he didn't have to perform CPR on the man. "Names Laik, nice to meet you stranger." Laik reached into a cupboard and threw one at the man continuing, "Here, its to dry yourself up with, just don't drop it, there's a bit of a leak in this thing. I'm not great at building stuff yet. But I hope to get better, so what were you doing out here before you started drowning?"

Laik dried himself with another towel then hung it up on a bar screwed into the wall and brushed his hair back before smiling at the man. He awaited the reply from the man on the floor then felt his fang protrude from his mouth like always and tried hiding it as he never felt all that great about himself with it sticking out.

Daniel

Daniel was still suspicious, but he took the towel and began to dry himself off with it. He remained crouched on the floor while he did this, allowing his legs to rest a little bit longer. His strength had not fully returned yet and he doubted that it would for another ten seconds or so. Daniel had always been someone who recharged fast and despite his near death experience, this time was no different. Already he could feel his power creeping back.

"I was sailing towards an island," Daniel told Laik. He figured that there was no reason to hide that something that obvious from him. "There was a storm. I was knocked overboard. I can't really remember what happened after that. Mind filling in the blanks?"

Jimi

As Jimi sailed into the canal, a figure stood watching him. This figure was about average height and painfully thin. It was difficult to tell whether the figure was male or female, due to the fact that he or she was wearing an all encompassing raincoat that was loose enough to disguise any distinguishing details. In one gloved hand the figure held an umbrella over his or her head. The figure's eyes narrowed in a mild frown a moment before he or she stepped into view alongside the Squall's ship.

"What do you think you're doing?" the figure yelled over the winds in what was obviously a man's voice. The face, however, was still hidden beneath the hood on the man's coat. "Can't you tell it's raining? Get off that boat and follow me inside, quick!"

The man promptly turned away and marched off down the street.

Laik heard what the man had to say and was still curious of his name but he listened to what he told him and began to get a picture in his mind.
"So your what, Pirate, bounty hunter Marine? Only those kinda people are stupid enough to try and take on a storm to prove they're toughness." Laik chuckled to himself a little before continuing, "As for what happened afterwards, I saw your body sinking and as an act of kindness I guess you could say I swam down after you and brought you back here. Then you woke up just as I was about to perform CPR on you. And thank god you did wake up, I did not want to perform CPR on another guy. By the way I still don't know your name and you weighed a ton when I was trying to swim back up with you."

Laik turned to face the screen of his submarine and looked out, Laik flicked some switches and began tilting the steering wheel as he did so the submarine began to rise up to the surface of the water and he turned back to the man.

"So you want a lift to that island? Thats where I'm heading, I got to do some repairs on this old thing."

"Uh...thanks?" Daniel muttered as he listened to the guy's barely disguised joke/insult to pirates. Well, pirates and Marines and bounty hunters, but who honestly cared about the other two these days? "Sure, I guess I'll stick around if you're headed to the island near where I fell in." Daniel shrugged and waved a hand around to indicate the submarine. "It's not like I could go anywhere right now in this...craft. Even if I hadn't eaten a devil fruit."

To be honest, Daniel didn't know what kind of craft he was in right now. As a child he had not spent a great deal of time on the ocean except when he family traveled to the neighboring Azeal island and back. So even if Laik had told him that this was a submarine, all the shipwright would have received was a blank stare.

Jimi was quite surprised when a man yelled at him for being out in the rain. He wondered if he should stay out and keep looking for Daniel, but there was nothing he could do in actuality, as a devil fruit user, he couldn't even step in seawater without feeling weak. "Thanks!" He yelled back. He quickly tied the ship to shore and sprinted off of it, not taking anything with him.

He had nothing else to do and nowhere else to go, so following a stranger didn't seem so bad in that particular moment. He carefully ran across the street, doing his best not to slip and fall. He soon caught up with the man. Judging by the man's hand, he was painfully thin, which almost made Jimi sorry for him, but right now Jimi didn't have so much to hand out. 'At least he has an umbrella...' Jimi thought as the rain soaked his afro. "I'm Jimi by the way" He said.

Laik heard the man mention a Devil Fruit and had never heard of one and felt inclined to ask, "Devil Fruit? What's one them? Is it some sort of really bitter fruit or is it spicy?" Laik then decided to make a joke about it due to his knowledge that the Devil often offers great things in exchange for something else. "Or is it some sort of fruit which grants you magical powers in exchange for your soul?" Laik began to chuckle as he steered towards the island.

He had no idea what he would find on the island but as long as there was somewhere to fix his submarine up and buy supplies he wouldn't care. As his submarine which he had named Betsy after the old woman who mistook him for her son. As Laik pulled up to the shore he raised the submarine and looked around for the docks. He saw other ships there and steered Betsy to the docks.

"Right we're here, thanks for riding aboard Betsy, now we can both get out of here and dry ourselves off, I know the ankle high water isn't exactly a great feature about Betsy, b-b-b-b-but I'm planning on fixing that, it really gets annoying with all the tiny fish getting in and swimming around your ankles, or in your boots."

Laik opened the top two hatches to Betsy and poked his head out through the top and inhaled a deep breath. "Ah, thats better, good old fresh air instead of shitty stale air in there." Climbing up breathing in much nicer fresher air Laik climbed out and offered a hand to the stranger as he stood on top of Betsy and awaited for the stranger whose name he still didn't know to climb out too.

(OOC: My apologies for taking longer than usual. I'll try to pick the pace a little next time.)

Daniel and Laik

Daniel blinked in surprise. "You really don't know what a devil fruit is?" he asked. "Wow...and to think you've made it this far on the Grand Line." Daniel's mouth twitched upwards in what looked almost like a smile. "You don't socialize much, do you?"

Daniel didn't say anymore right away, but listened to Laik as he said it was time to disembark. As he was waiting for the guy to climb out of the sub, Daniel felt the rest of his strength flowing back and he stood up to his full height, which really wasn't all that impressive. Daniel's amused smile became a smirk as Laik offered him a hand to help him out of the submarine. This guy really had no idea.

"You say that you don't know what a devil fruit is, right?" Daniel commented.

The young captain dropped back into his crouch and then leaped straight up while using the wind to boost his leap so that he easily cleared the opening and landed on its rim. Daniel started to speak, but then his legs gave out and he fell on his backside.

"Well this is embarrassing," Daniel muttered. "Seems I wasn't as recovered as I thought." Daniel pushed himself up with his arms into a sitting position. "That's a devil fruit," he explained. "You were kind of right when you guessed that the fruits give people power, however I sincerely doubt they condemn a person's soul to Hell." Daniel held out one of his hands and a tiny gust of wind blew through Laik's hair, ruffling it slightly. "My devil fruit is called the Kaze-Kaze no mi. I'm a wind man."

Jimi

The street Jimi and the man were on was long and narrow. The canal Jimi had chosen to sail into ran the full length of the street and even went on out of their visual range. The sides of the street were lined with houses and a few small stores. There was even a restaurant called the "Bluegill". The buildings were so close that many of them were pressed against each other.

"Hmmm...Jimi, huh?" the man commented. "My name is Abbott, but you can call me Moss. Everyone else around here does. Look there..." The man pointed with his umbrella towards a house that was slightly apart from all the rest they were passing. No other buildings touched its sides, in fact the nearest building was at least ten feet away. "That is my house."

Moss led the rest of the way to his home and stuffed his hand into his pocket. It took him a few seconds to find what he was looking for and then he pulled out an old, iron key and jammed it into the lock on the door. A moment later and the door creaked open, revealing a small, but cozy looking room. There was a crackling fire in the hearth and a couple of chairs in front of it. Across from the front door was a second door, one that was hanging slightly open.

The man stepped into his home and walked right over to one of the chairs in front of the fireplace. He sat himself down heavily without bothering to remove his wet, raincoat. His umbrella slipped from his hand and fell to the floor next to his chair. The man let out a contented sigh.

"So..." he said, without looking in Jimi's direction. "What were you doing out in that storm?"

"Wind man? Alright I guess I kinda understand, so you can control wind?" Laik thought to himself about this and wanted to know more about it but really didn't know anything else about it other than what this man told him.

"I think I may want to get my hands on one of these fruits if they give you powers, maybe a water controlling fruit would be handy. Although I wouldn't mind being a wind man." thought Laik he then looked back at the man.

"Anyway your welcome for the saving but I guess this is where we part ways now. Maybe I'll see you somewhere else among these seas." Laik leaped down to the docks and brushed his hair back out of his eyes and hung his harpoon gun on the back of his pants with the harpoon itself aiming downwards.
Laik headed towards the town in search of shop which supplies wood and other materials.

Last Hope Hospital
Miguel was now in a hospital, once a patient he was now working with the doctors to try and help the patients on the island. Miguel had only worked on the hospital for a few days, yet he was already recognized as the best doctor the Hospital had seen in years. The atmosphere was peachy in the morning, before a sudden storm reached the island, and many patients suddenly got quieter. Miguel had seen these types of reactions before, its depressing.. the environment someone was in could sometimes effect his personality, it was basic knowledge. The rain was also effecting Miguel, as the past fight still haunted his dreams at night.

In his memories: Miguel was defeated by a man with poison dipped needles, its attacks concentrated on his leg.. Miguel cut the leg open to let most of the poison out from which after he was then crawling towards an area where he could not be killed, out of his predators sight. Finally escaping the man, Miguel could only find a nearby poorly medicined Hospital, the worst place for a poison victim. Miguel only asked for certain types of plants for him to make the medicine himself, to cure most of the poison, but would have to be moved to a poison control hospital where he might need quick treatment. They sent him by ship to the nearest Hospital that had some poison removal methods, which was the one at the island he was on. After the rejuvenation Miguel had to pay off the work they did on him, he refused to use simple money and offered his services which were worth more. Days inside the hospital and the current day was supposed to be his last on the hospital, before he would be free once more to walk the world. As safety, Miguel decided to keep the antidote on his belt.. just in case he would encounter the same poison again.

Now Miguel was in the middle of the storm inside a hospital, a scar on his left leg thanks to the Cut he gave himself, to save himself. His Hair was normally long, reaching his neck in height and dark colored. While wearing a Doctors White Lab Coat he was also wearing his Black gloves, which stood him out from the rest of the doctors. His business attire was safely left under the coat, only showing the middle of it as he walked down the halls with an unbuttoned Lab Coat. The hospitals insides looked like an army bases sorry excuse for a hospital (in Iraq), but in a fairly small concrete house instead of a tent, with the outsides usually having people wait in long lines.. Miguel figured there was better hospitals around the island, but none were probably as affordable as this one.

Miguel walked towards the patients waiting in line, looking at only the ones that looked like they were suffering the most.. today was a good day, as there was no sign of serious life threatening diseases like the other days, and the line seemed to have gotten half as big as when he came here.. it was proof that the last few days he was here he had made a long term difference.

Jimi found the scene uncomfortable. The old man seemed to have a rough life, and he seemed quite lonely, yet he took Jimi in when he lacked a roof. The man seemed quite neglected, and Jimi began wondering if the man even spoke to anyone but him in the last month. But all these thoughts slipped away when the man asked Jimi a question.

"Well..." Jimi started, trying to deliver the massage as easy as possible. "Me and my captain were sailing towards this island when the storm hit. You see, I'm the navigator, and I never thought this storm was gonna be that bad, so we kept going. Then he fell overboard, and I didn't see him ever since, making it mostly my fault I guess... I only knew the guy for a few days but he was a good man" Jimi admitted. "I couldn't even jump in and help him cause I would sink like a hammer" He added, revealing another bit of information.

Jimi felt guilty. The man showed him nothing but concern, so he had to tell him the entire truth. "The truth is... I'm a pirate, and I ate a devil fruit, so if you wanna reconsider inviting me into your home I won't blame ya" He said.

(OOC: Antler and Karasu, I'll be honest, I'm still working out all of the details in this story including your parts. So please, just go ahead and do your own thing for now.)

Daniel

Daniel waved as Laik walked away. He was sorry to see the man go, but he had more important things to deal with right now. Like finding out if Jimi had made it to the island safely. That was his biggest problem.

So he too entered the town, but unlike Laik he did not head for the inner parts of the city. He was going to circle around and search for his ship.

Daniel shivered and glanced up at the rainy sky. It was getting chilly out here. If it got any worse, it might start to hail and that was never a good thing, especially not in the Grand Line.


Jimi

The old man was silent for a while. In fact, his silence was so long that he could have simply died and Jimi didn't know it yet, but at long last, he spoke.

"I don't care what you are," Moss told Jimi. "Devil fruits...pirates...bah, what could you possibly do, kill me?" He started laughing, but it quickly changed to a coughing fit. After a few seconds he collected himself once more. "Nothing really matters to me these days."

He fell silent again and all that could be heard was the crackling of the fire. Then came a whine and a small dog stepped into the room from the back areas of the house. It was small, pitiful creature with reddish fur that was caked in mud. One of the dog's front legs were missing.

The dog hopped lightly across the floor in the direction of the fire. It was evident from the way it moved that it was used to its missing leg. The dog came to a sudden stop when it caught sight of Jimi. The puppy crouched low and moved towards him. It sniffed his leg and then sat down on its haunches and wagged its tail.

"Well, I'll be..." Moss whispered. He had craned his head around to watch the puppy when it had entered the room. "He likes you. That's odd. Usually he's nervous around strangers." Moss looked at Jimi again, this time with a little more warmth than before. "Come in, friend," he spoke. "It seems that I may have misjudged you."

(OOC: Moss has a roof, his house is just separated from the rest of the homes.)

Strolling into town Laik felt his torso a little cold and wrapped his arms around himself for warmth. His walking speed quickened as he looked out for a shop, he could feel a strong breeze pushing over his body and was beginning to wish he had brought a shirt with him.

As he got further into the town Laik noticed a hard ware store and rushed in as his hair was blown back behind him. Once inside he closed the door quickly behind him and rubbed his torso to warm himself up inside the store it was much warmer.

Laik looked around the store at the tools, he needed some new ones as his old ones were rusty, he took a look at some building materials and thought about his submarine's condition. He needed to patch up the leaks before he set out anywhere. Laik grabbed a plank of wood and began running his fingers over it to see the condition of it. He noticed the wood wasn't in fantastic condition and put it back. He looked at the other materials and noticed all of the wood here could be in much better condition. Laik decided it would be better to get some material from elsewhere. Laik picked up the tool belt and paid for it.

These tools would come in handy, hopefully he would be able to make some repairs but Laik wasn't sure. He headed back to the door and exited, it was still windy and the breeze made him cold. He gripped his torso and rubbed himself for warmth as he headed back to his Submarine.

Miguel looked through the patients waiting outside, this time he was moving his eyes to look for the sickest looking ones.. the emergencies were the earliest ones he had to take care off, but though he was looking carefully he could not see someone bleeding or having a hard time walking. His attention shifted back to the hospital doors and took a step in the direction he was facing, when suddenly he felt a hand grab his shoulder.. but it was gentle, and fragile.

Miguel turned around only to see a Women, she had Blonde hair that seemed dirty as well as rugged jeans and a long sleeved dirty white shirt to cover herself. she looked at Miguel with weak but angry eyes, but Miguel was unfazed, her condition was bad for average standards.. but compared to some of the people on the line she could afford weeks if necessary. She looked at Miguel directly in the eyes.

"I have a daughter that needs attention.. she's in the line." Her eyes looked directly at Miguels, and were scary for the man that is used to other types of attention. He moved his eyes through the crowd of people standing in the line, but couldn't see the young girl inside it. Miguel looked back at the women with a confused look on his eyes, until he felt a slight pull on the bottom of his pants. Looking down he saw a little girl.. probably 3 years old, her eyes were saggy showing she had no rest but one thing was clear about her.. she had some Black spots around her body that looked like they hurt, they were sticking out of the skin like bumps around her arm, and one was even around her neck. Whatever it was, Miguel hadn't seen anything like it.

Miguel took her hand gently and nodded to the Mother that was still with a serious face. Her eyes were now on her daughter, she knell down to feel her daughters cheek, a smile moving across her face.

"Be strong, Alright Amy? Ill be waiting outside here when you get better." She looked back up to Miguel, as if telling him he better be able to pull it off. Amy walked past the doors while holding Miguels hand.. this was going to be a tough case, he would have to start reading books, and her symptoms would have to be explained in detail.. by a three year old.

Miguel did have his work cut out for him, but he was not going to let this young girl leave the hospital, without leaving in perfect health.

Jimi couldn't help but feel sorry for the puppy's missing leg, but watching the puppy wagging it's tail made Jimi smile. "Gladly" Jimi said and stepped in, thrilled to have a roof between him and the crying clouds. He was a large man and finding comfort in the old man's small house wasn't going to be easy, but he wasn't going to show it. "I bet he likes me for my smell..." Jimi said as he attempted to pet the dog, who probably enjoyed the scent of sheep.

After stepping in, Jimi felt a little uncomfortable with the old ma, who's life seemed to be stuck on a downhill road, so he felt like some questions had to be asked. "So..." Jimi started, still petting the dog while kneeling next to it. "You know pretty much everything there is to know about me, but no nothing about you except your kindness" Jimi said. Jimi then got up and reached for a hand shake. He reached with his right hand, revealing the remains of the burn Toge left for him to remember her by. By now the wound looked better, but was still visible. Regardless, Jimi didn't want to disrespect the man by using his left hand.

"I'm Jimi H. Hide by the way, and I really appreciate the help" He said. "But what makes a man invite a stranger into his home and not even care if he's a criminal. or a monster?" Jimi asked, trying to milk some information about his host. "I've been sailing for some years and never crossed paths with someone who'd willingly invite pirates into his home". It was true, he was never invited anywhere along with the loud bunches of sailors he used to hang with, the man was obviously unique.

Daniel

"C-cold," Daniel muttered, shivering in the chill air. He looked up and blinked as a raindrop hit his eye. "Stupid clouds," he continued, now glaring at the sky. "That's the third time already. It's like they are aiming for me." Daniel continued glaring up at the clouds for another second and then he yelled, "Just you wait! I'll get stronger and then I'll be able to blow you clouds away!" As soon as he had finished shouting, another raindrop hit him in the eye. "Stupid clouds," Daniel repeated just as someone else, who was standing next to Daniel, muttered the same thing.

Daniel and this other figure stood side by side calmly. Suddenly they spun towards each other yelled, "WHERE DID YOU COME FROM?"

Daniel blinked again, though this time it was not because of a raindrop. No, this time it was because of the appearance of the man next to him. This guy had a large, round head and his skin had an orange tinge to it. On top of the man's head was a single, long, braided strip of dark green hair that stuck straight up. Other than that one piece, the rest of his head was bald. The rest of the man's body was hidden underneath a trenchcoat. All that could be seen was his boots, poking out from under the base of his coat.

Daniel's mouth started to twitch upwards and then he burst out laughing.

"You look like a pumpkin!" Daniel said before he continued laughing.

"SHUT UP!" the man shouted.

"So what's your name pumpkin guy?" Daniel asked.

"DON'T CALL ME PUMPKIN GUY!" the man snapped. A moment later he calmed down and said, "My name is Jack."

Daniel grinned. "Like Jack-o'-lantern?" he questioned innocently.

"Yes, exactly like-" the man started to say, nodding sagely. Then he seemed to realize what he had just said and he glared at Daniel. "I mean NO! That's not it at all!"

Laik

Unknown to Laik, he was not the only one that was interested in his submarine. A girl and a boy were standing side by side next to the underwater vessel.

The girl was the more remarkable of the two. She was taller than the boy and appeared to be in her early twenties. Her light brown hair hung loosely around her shoulders. Her shirt had long sleeves that grew wider the further along they got so that the openings where her hands came out were unusually broad. The girl was staring at the submarine with an intense, serious expression on her face.

The boy seemed to still be in his teens. He was not only shorter, but also stockier than the girl. Unlike the girl, he seemed uncomfortable with the fact that they were standing in the rain next to a sub.

Jimi

Moss was silent again. He wasn't in a big rush to explain himself. Some things were more complicated than all that. He wouldn't leave Jimi hanging for too long, though.

"Someone who has nothing to lose," Moss said. "Someone, like me." He looked up at Jimi through haunted eyes. "Have you ever lost someone close to you? If you have, you'll know what I'm talking about. In my case, I have hope, but it is little more than a spark these days." He turned himself to stare into the flames once again. "Thirty years ago, my only child left me to go sail upon the seas and become a pirate. I begged him not to go, but he wouldn't listen. A few weeks later I received news that his crew's ship had been sunk by a navy vessel and that most of the crew had survived and a few even escaped. Each day since that time I have been going down to the sea where I last saw him, to watch and wait and hope for his return. That's why people call me Moss. I know that it is a foolish hope, but it is all I have to cling onto, all I have ever had since he left this place."

Moss went quiet again, listening to the crackling of the flames. When he next spoke, his voice was softer, but held the weight of authority of a man who knew what he was talking about:

"You say you have lost track of a friend. I am not the best person to ask about such matters, but I do know this: If he is a good friend, search for him and try to hang on to him. Cherish all of those who are close to you. In the end, they will define who you are before all others."

Miguel

A man stepped into the group of patients. Between his dazed expression, shuffling walk, and dirty street clothes, he looked completely harmless. He began coughing quite violently and a few of the others in the crowd sidled away from him. Though the majority of them were sick, the only exceptions being the friends or family who had brought some of them, they didn't want to get to catch anything else in this place for obvious reasons.

The man continued coughing for a full minute and fell to his hands and knees. Slowly the coughing began to subside and he spit a globule of blood onto the ground. His vision was swirling as he pushed himself back up into a standing position and he stumbled out of the crowd and struck a wall. Shaking slightly, he slid down the wall and sat on the floor with his head in his hands.

As Laik rushed back towards his submarine for warmth he noticed two people looking at it and was curious about them both. He wanted to ask what they were doing but didn't want to spook them and figured he would just walk past them and climb aboard it where he could hopefully grab hold of some warmer clothing.

Pushing between the boy and girl Laik didn't bother looking at them both and jumped down to his floating ship which seemed to be sinking and opened the hatch and climbed in. He saw the water was rising and would either have to abandon this submarine and build a new one or repair it and quickly. Laik pressed his head down under the water to see if he could spot where the leak was coming from but couldn't see it.

"Well its been a good run but it seems its time I move on, sorry buddy." Laik began reaching into draws around his submarine and pulling out some of his belongings. Once he finished packing up his belongings he packed them into a bag which he slung over his shoulder looking around his small craft which had helped him escape Marines he felt sad to be leaving it behind but at the same time happy he was to be moving on in life.

Laik wanted to take something from his submarine as a reminder but looking around he couldn't decide what until he saw one item which was sticking up just above the water which had reached his waist.

He removed the steering wheel and pulled a coat on over his torso to warm himself up. He knew he would need to get out and find somewhere else to stay temporarily while he tried building a new submarine or ship. He felt his submarine jolt and realised the water was rising a little quicker. He reached into one of his cupboards and pulled out a fruit he had found during his travels and sniffed at it he still didn't know if it was worth eating or what it was and packed it into his bag. he had planned on eating it when he was hungry and out of supplies. Climbing back up and out of the submarine Laik leapt to the docks and let his submarine sink down into the water behind him.

"Shame"