The Fleeting Shadows [Juli]

[Sean]

And so, both Sean and Juli had broken out of a dock located in Loguetown; some marines had lost their lives, Musker got what he finally deserved and now Sean and Juli had bounties for sure. Sean for one, was use to living a pirate life as he had done so before. he was quite acquainted with confronting the marines on numerous occasions. On the other hand, this may have been a slap in the face for Juli. he acknowledged the fact that she had been aware that she had assisted in stealing a ship and breached a petty secured marine dock. As of now, Sean felt that he would leave Juli in reflection and allow her to gather her thoughts. Maybe she would just see Sean as another scum of the sea and leave, which was perfectly acceptable. After all, pirates did steal, pillage and plunder. Exactly an action which Sean had done when he stole this ship.

While he left Juli with some time, Sean prepared the ship, throwing over board junk which he did not need that the previous owners had left behind. At one point he came across folded up flags and sails of jolly rogers. Perhaps this ship had belonged to pirates before? No matter, it belonged to a new pirate now. Their sails and flags stayed as of now, until further decision was made upon their fate. As of now, Sean acquainted himself with the new ship layout. A very simple and basic design, maybe the time would come when they have to buy a new ship.

By now, the sun was reaching its peak, and it was well into the morning. it was funny to think back that a few hours ago, they had breached a marine post and stolen something of value. "Hey Juli. Do you drink?" Sean decided to break the silence and stepped out onto deck to check on Juli. Sean didn't drink himself as he felt that alcohol merely caused an illusion to the mind and sense perceptions, but not everyone took that view. Life didn't have to be so serious all the time and Sean was quite tolerant on other people drinking, with limits. He presented an unopened bottle of rum to Juli. "So Juli. Everything went quite well." Sean gave her a smile, attempting to brighten up the mood. "On top of that I've thought of the new name for the crew. My pirate crew will now be known as the Fleeting Shadows!" Sean gave some emphasis on the name, trying to bold it out triumphantly, and also to brighten up the mood a bit more.

[Juli]

The sun beamed down as Juli huddled next to the mast, welcoming what little shade she had. Her irregular schedule these last couple of days had her tired, but somehow still awake. Nearby, Eddy sat, looking over his wounds he received last night. They had been bandaged, but not much more than that...

Juli clutched her stomach, still feeling uneasy. She wasn’t sure whether or not it was that she’d never ridden on a ship before, or if it was about what happened last night. She had a feeling though...

She ceased stewing in her thoughts when Sean approached, bottle in hand, and questioned, “Hey Juli. Do you drink?” Instinctively, Juli took the bottle and looked at it for a moment. She had never drunk alcohol before. Since Sean didn’t seem to want any wither, Juli put the bottle and mumbled, “No thanks...”

“So Juli. Everything went quite well. On top of that I've thought of the new name for the crew. My pirate crew will now be known as the Fleeting Shadows!” Sean said with a smile.

“That’s great!” Juli said with as much enthusiasm as she could muster. He had helped her out a lot back in Lougetown, but she wasn’t sure what to do about this now. She wasn’t sure if she wanted to saty with him, especially with all of the crime, but if she had a bounty like she feared...well, at least she had Eddy. She asked something that had been on her mind for a little while now, =purple]“So, what next?”

[Sean]

Sean just gave a nod after Juli rejected the bottle of rum. Sean was no expert on mermaids, but maybe they were unfamiliar with alcohol, or Juli quite simply was not in the mood. After Sean had revealed to her the name of his new crew, he was delighted to detect the enthusiasm Juli held. Well it seemed genuine to Sean. Sean crept over to the side of the deck and leaned himself against the wooden barrier. He stared out into the sea, deep into the horizon. The sun light refracted from the surface of the sea, giving it a lovely blue colour.So this was it then? This was not the colour of liberty. Free from living in a land of law and restrictions. No longer was it a positive liberty in Loguetown, where there was freedom to education but with the presence of the World Government to dictate what you can do. This was now negative liberty, a much better form in Sean's opinion. Freedom from the World Government and that is just the way Sean chose to live; as a pirate.

"So, what next?" Sean's thoughts were interrupted by Juli, who of course would be curious as to what will occur now. Like everything, Sean had this planned out. "Well south of here is the Calm belt and South West will be the entrance to the Grand Line.Though I don't believe we are ready for that yet." Sean responded. It was true, just him, Juli and Eddy would be no match for the forces in the Grand Line. Let alone did they even have a skilled navigator to even get there. "So this is the new plan. We shall head up north to find civilisation. There we will simply keep a low cover and recruit some more people willing to follow me to the Grand Line. Upon then we should keep our eye open for a navigator to help us guide the ship itself." Sean explained the plan quite adamantly. "Well Juli, as of now it's just me and you." he stated the obvious. "And just to add. You're welcome to stay on this ship for as long as you want."

[Juli]

Juli listened carefully as Sean explained his plan. She had to agree that they weren’t close to ready for the Grand Line yet. Of course, Juli’s home was there, but there were certainly interesting sights still to see in the East Blue that she’d miss anyway, right?

Sean continued on with his plan, mentioning his hopes to find a navigator, and ending with saying that Juli could stay on the ship as long as she wanted. Juli smiled, figuring it might be best for her safety. As evidenced yesterday, she’d definitely need help; Eddy was strong, but social situations? The Umima would rather snarl at a person than communicate with them. Plus, if she was getting a bounty, she’d need as much help as she could get. If she didn’t, she’d be sure to lay low and not get one: I mean, how could she live in the Fishman Island with a bounty on her head?

On second thought, Juli realized that, in a way, she already had a bounty on her head. From birth, almost. On Sabaody Archipelago, there was a high dmand for mermaids, especially females, such as herself. They tended to go for 70,000,000! At minimum! That was closer to the numbers of notorious pirates she’d heard of that passed through the Fishman Island on their way to the New World, let alone that man whose flag protected the Fishman Island from most of its troubles.

“Thank you Sean; I’m really grateful. I mean it!” Juli explained. She thought about the Fishman Island again and realized that Sean had no knowledge of her intentions. “Oh right, I guess I should say my own plans.” Juli straightened herself in her sitting position and began, "Well, since you’re going to the Grand Line, I figure you eventually plan to go to the Fishman Island, right? You see, that’s where I was born, and hopefully I hope to go back to live there one day. I kind of want to see more of the world first, though. There’s a lot to see out here! And we’ll definitely see more n our way to the Fishman Island, so...I hope to stay with you for a while! And I’ll be sure to pull my own weight."

Juli took a breath, as she had rambled for a little bit. One last thought crossed her mind, but she decided to give Sean a chance to speak. It would be rude otherwise, Juli thought.

[Sean]

"Well, since you’re going to the Grand Line, I figure you eventually plan to go to the Fishman Island, right?"

"Right!" Sean replied.

Sean heard Juli out as she spoke out her own intentions, which of course, grasped Sean's interests with the idea of seeing the world. So long as Juli was on board with Sean and his future crew, travelling was a lot more organised, thus this was Juli's ticket of chance to see everything a pirate would see on their journey. This was the window of opportunity for her to travel around the Ocean, above the surface. Sean was not acquainted with the lifestyle of a mermaid. With the acknowledgement of the existence of slavery, it was obvious to know that rare and exotic races were also great in worth. Though it was easy to tell that mermaids were rarely sighted outside of Fishman island and considering that Juli was here, she was probably the only mermaid in the East Blue. It was quite a fascinating thought, to think that mermaids were so rare; but the very fact that Juli was on Sean's ship now. What were the chances of a mermaid being on board with him?

Sean remained quite interested in Juli's ambition to see the world. Everything here must be so exotic to a mermaid now, miles and miles away from home. It was surprising that she travelled here in the first place. Sean simply let out a grin to Juli, who spoke on wishing to see the world and was quite determined at that. "Well Juli. I said you could stay on this ship as long as you like. So I hope you're ready to start sight seeing because we have a lot of places to visit." It was either their early meeting when they had stolen the boat or right now, that Juli had revealed such eagerness to see the world, that made Sean quite accustom to Juli. She had proven a lot of worth back when she had defended the ship from marines and had it ready for that narrow escape. And now, Juli had her own ambition which Sean found quite admirable. No way would he deny that chance for her now.

Though something Juli mentioned seemed oddly familiar. The name of her home, fishman island. Never before had he even set foot in the Grand Line, and even so, many people in the Grand Line probably never set foot on Fishman island. He knew that merfolk and fishmen came from the Grand Line, though fishmen tend to creep out more often. Wait! Some fishmen inhabit the East Blue.And Sean's father once told him about a notorious fishman pirate who haunted some islands in the East Blue. Requin! He was once a former member of the famous Sunny pirate crew; and now a captain of his own fearsome crew. Not that Sean was associating Juli with Requin, but the thought of Fishman island proved to be a fantasy for Sean. It just gave Sean a picture of the future. Perhaps when he becomes a great pirate, he would arrive at Fishman island to see Juli's home. Maybe even meet other fishman pirates like Requin.

It was approving that Juli was willing to carry her own weight. Since Juli was now an intern for this ship, that was good enough for Sean to repay her with protection. He was no guardian angel. Though, Sean was willing to put in the effort to ensure that Juli would make it back safely to Fishman island, and along the way, see the world along with the wild lifestyles of pirates.

[Juli]

Sean finished talking again, mentioning the many places they’d see. Juli wondered what places Sean had been. Or...so many things about Sean. Now that she thought about it, he was pretty mysterious. He was a pirate, certainly, but his own reason for it was unknown. He wanted to go to the Grand Line, as he just said, but why? Where did he come from anyway? More and more questions popped up as Juli thought about it. Well, since she was planning on asking some of them anyway...

“So, Sean...” She began, “Why did you become a pirate? I mean, are you after the One Piece? Or something else?” Juli honestly did not know much about pirates. She could name a few from memory: famous ones of course. She also recalled hearing about ones of lesser fame who passed through the Fishman Island while she lived there, though whether they were even alive now was another story. Other than that, Sean was one of the few pirates she ever met, and the only one she met on friendly terms.

[Sean]

The One Piece! That name grasped Sean's undivided attention. The One Piece was just a legend, and Sean knew better than to believe in any legend without a true justified belief on its existence. Not one living person had an account of the One Piece anymore. Though Juli used that name so loosely, as if it were something to simply obtain at the end of the quest. Countless pirates have previously before tried to find the One Piece and never has there been a word of any success. Was Sean after the One Piece? Maybe. Despite what complete rationality would dictate, there was still a sense of scepticism in Sean. He knew full well on why he was a pirate. The fact that he had to stop and think over the existence of One Piece though, suggests that even Sean held the slightest possibility of its existence.

"Well, I was brought up as a pirate." Sean replied rather bluntly. It was not everyday that someone asked the question of why he was a pirate, but that was his reason for being one. besides he never liked pressing on the matters of his pirate-hood too much. His history was still far too personal to bring up yet, and if he were to tell, then that would probably ruin his father's own plan. "And no I'm not after the One Piece. It probably does not even exist." He replied on Juli's second question. Indeed he felt the legend unworthy to chase at its time. Maybe, if there had at least been some sign of proof, that would have been a goal to pursue.As of now, it was a dying man's last words. Sean was after something else, not quite treasure, not quite freedom. "I just simply want power. To change the world. I want power over the seas and later the land. I want to be, king of the pirates." To conquer the seas and spread his influence onto the land of the world someday, that's what Sean truly wanted.

Moving away from Sean's ambition, Sean had his own curiosity over Juli. How come she left her home? Did she really journey this far just to see the world outside? "So Juli, what brings you all the way to the East Blue? Why did you decide to leave home and see the world?" The umima was also a question Sean had been keen on asking since they met. "And what is the animal that follows you around? Is it a pet from fishman island?"

[Juli]

Juli silently listened to Sean’s explanation. It did confuse Juli a bit though: wasn’t finding the One Piece how you could become the Pirate King? She ignored it as Sean continued. Juli could only smile at Sean’s enthusiasm. But it did raise a question: what did Sean want to change about the world? Juli paused for a moment and wondered: what would she change? Certainly something to sleep on.

Juli stayed attentive as Sean asked his own questions, “So Juli, what brings you all the way to the East Blue? Why did you decide to leave home and see the world? And what is the animal that follows you around? Is it a pet from fishman island?”

She didn’t hesitate to answer, going into her own tale. “Well, you see. I lived on the Fishman Island until about a month ago. I got into some trouble, and well left. I was kinda afraid of what might happen, so I went into the wider ocean to hide.” Juli shrugged. It sounded so silly out loud. “I honestly had no idea what I was thinking. Anyway I took shelter in an underwater cave where I met Eddy. Oh: he’s a Umima, which are found in the Grand Line and...one of the Blues, I think. Anyway, he let me stay there because I’d bring him fish, see? Well, eventually, we got close enough that he’d defend me from Sea Kings too. Well, after a few weeks of this, we couldn’t find as much food in the area, so we moved. We ended up passing through one of the Calm Belts, which almost got use killed, but we made it to the East Blue, where I decided I’d see more of the world before going home!” Juli finished.

[Sean]

Trouble? Sean pondered as to what kind of trouble Juli would have in a safe and secure area. After all, he had believed Fishman island to be populated with merfolk and fishmen, it seemed like an ideal secure area. Something terrible must have happened in order for Juli to leave. Sean heard Juli out for the rest of her story, simply giving small nods every few seconds and making eye contact with Juli to acknowledge that he was paying attention. "Anyway I took shelter in an underwater cave where I met Eddy. Oh: he’s a Umima, which are found in the Grand Line and...one of the Blues, I think. Anyway, he let me stay there because I’d bring him fish, see? Well, eventually, we got close enough that he’d defend me from Sea Kings too." So Eddy was a species known as a 'Umima'? Strange, it looked quite aggressive creature; though to befriend it was rather miraculous of Juli. In all honesty, Sean was curious to know what exactly did happen at Fishman island that made Juli want to leave. However, Sean was also concerned with what seemed like a heavier burden to him in his mind right now. The One Piece.

The topic over the One Piece had proven much too distracting for Sean to provoke any more questions over the trouble at Fishman island. Sean would just accept that something happened which caused Juli to leave, and as for knowing what happened, Sean would ask that later. As of now, the One Piece consciously hung itself in the back of his mind, it was almost haunting. Despite what rationality Sean had, he could not explain it, but it seemed to be more than a silly myth. Was it real? People all over the world had theories, though none had proof. So what did Juli think? Could she shed any light over the subject? She was the only person Sean really knew who was in between both the Paradise and the New World of the Grand Line. Sometimes, different people would hold more knowledge on legends. So what would Juli know?

There was a brief silence Sean left as soon as Juli had finished. He merely accepted what Juli told, though in his internal mind he felt it too much of a burden. He had to reflect back upon the One Piece again."Juli... Do you believe in the One Piece?"

[Juli]

The pair sat in silence for several moments. Juli found herself getting thirsty. She glanced over at the bottle of rum that still sat nearby, but figured she’d get some water later, or at least go for a swim. Sean paused in thought for a moment before finally asking, switching topics: “Juli... Do you believe in the One Piece?”

Juli sighed inwardly, thinking he could have chosen his words better. The way he said it made it sound almost like a religion rather than...whatever the One Piece really was. Then again, what if it was? Gold Roger would be it’s saint and...wait this was stupid. Maybe Juli was just tired.

“Hmm...well. I’ve heard about a lot of pirates who want to find it. And there are people who’ve been in the New World since Roger died looking, and no one’s found it yet. So it either doesn’t exist, or it’s really really hard to find... Juli glanced away when she realized that she didn’t actually answer the question. “I guess...I don’t really lean one way or the other,” She admitted.

After another moment, she did another topic change, “So, Sean. Since we’re both planning to go to my home island one day, where did you come from? Maybe we could go there one day.”

[Sean]

The fairly vague response was somewhat disappointing, and being a pirate, it was always a deep ideal for most of them to reflect and share their opinions on. Then again, Juli was not a pirate, in her perspective on the One Piece it probably held less of a burden, since she had not quite dedicated her life to being a pirate. Perhaps next time he would not ask about the One Piece so openly with others, perhaps it was just a topic of discussion for pirates right now. As of now, Sean was willing to drop the subject. The only reaction Sean gave ,after Juli's response, was his silence. He allowed Juli to change the topic once more.

“So, Sean. Since we’re both planning to go to my home island one day, where did you come from? Maybe we could go there one day.”

Sean gave a light grin after Juli's question. Immediately he replied, "Funny enough. My home is in the direction we are heading now. It's in the north of the East Blue." His grin dropped though as soon as he thought about his own home island. Nihilus was not exactly the beautiful and well cultured island on the East Blue. "Maybe we could." He emphasised. "I come from an island called Nihilus and let's just say, it's pretty grim up north."

[Juli]

Juli nodded, “Well, I think it’d still be nice to see.” No matter how grim it was. Come to think of it, Nihilus sounded like a word she should know, although she couldn’t pin it down...

Juli turned her head to see that Eddy was gone. “Hmm? Eddy?” She wondered where he went off too. Maybe he was hungry?


Several minutes ago, and not too far away...

A small fleet of rowboats, all but one packed kept its course straight through the sea. One rowboat had but 4 men on it; two rowing, a bald man relaxing in the back, and a larger man standing with a spyglass, desperately searching the seas.

“So, found the ship yet boy?” Said the older, bald man in the back deridingly. He twiddled with his long, gray mustache. He wore a long, blue coat, which remained buttoned up. He also wore tan pants with a black sash tied around his waist. A red cane laid by his side. He looked back up at his son and asked again, “Well? I’m tellin’ ya, Rigrul, it’s gone.”

“They could have gone anywhere, Cap’n!”

“Let’s just go back to Lougetown, boss...” Came several moans from the other boats. Various men manned them, each wearing a pair of gauntlets.

“Quiet! I’m a hundred percent sure they went this way! That crap we found floating in the ocean was definitely ours!” Rigrul yelled, turning away from his looking to face his crew. Captain Rigrul of the Gauntlet Pirates was getting sick of the insubordination. Spyglass clutched in a pair of gauntlets with spiked knuckles, he lifted it back up and turned back to the ocean. His metal boots, tipped with spikes, clanked against the wooden boat. He also wore a long sleeved, blue coat, and white pants with a gray sash. He adjusted his blue-horned helm and fixed his black mustache before finally catching a ship in his gaze. “Ha! Nahahahaha! Found it! Told you all! And you doubted me...”

“It could be any ship...” His father, Rigby replied disbelievingly. Grasping his cane, he stood, walking over to his son. Rigrul began coughing louding, doubling over as he hacked his lungs out. Rigby reached to grab the spyglass out of his son’s hand, but Rigrul kept it away. As the pirate captain recovered, Rigby yelled, “Give it here! Didn’t your mother teach how to share?”

Rigrul handed it over, “Pah, what does she know about sharing?”

“Good point...” Rigrul sighed as he stared into the sea, finding the ship with little trouble. “Well, it’s a ship all right!”

“And it’s about to be ours!” The Captain cried out to his men. “And we’ll take it by force if need be!” His crew cheered in response, before quieting down and pushing full speed after the boat.

On the boat, Juli and Sean conversed, but Eddy, half sleeping on the deck, smelled the scent of several dozen men upwind. Perking up, he slinked away unnoticed, going to the other side of the ship and entering the water.


A few minutes later, we return to the present...

Juli’s train of thought was interrupted when she heard a grunt. Two hands, metallic and with clawed fingers, loudly latched themselves onto the side of the boat. With a heave, the gauntleted pirate hoisted himself onto the deck. “You! You’re the bastards who stole our ship! Found you at last, nahahaha!” Rigrul smiled evilly.

A cane latched itself to the side of the boat, and an older man followed, getting up to the deck while Rigrul finished his gloating. “Does look like our old ship...no matter what though, it’s ours now regardless.”

Juli, eyes wide, slid away, slipping behind the ship’s mast, peeking her head out to watch. They were busted, plain and simple.

[Sean]

While Juli seemed concerned over the whereabouts of Eddy, Sean had was sat down with his back leaning against the wall on the side of the deck. Not in the mood to worry, Sean felt it time to relax after such a commotion at Loguetown. A relaxation was well rewarding, and Sean thought that it was probably where Eddy went off too. Trying to find a place to nap maybe? "Maybe he has gone off to sleep Juli?" Sean suggested; after all they had used up a lot of energy back at Loguetown and Eddy would have to rest off his wound. It couldn't be all that bad.

As if he had jinxed their situation. Sean's relaxation was cut short from the sound of Iron clawed gauntlets curling over the side of the ship, gripping themselves tightly. What's this? Sean had been taken by surprise to this unexpected suddenness of the Gauntlet pirates captain heaving himself onto the ship. Regardless, Sean still held his relaxed position, leaning against the side of the deck wall.

“You! You’re the bastards who stole our ship! Found you at last, nahahaha!”

"Excuse me?" Sean was well aware that he had stolen a ship. But his curiosity bloomed over the fact that he said 'our' being his ship. Though Sean was caught in surprise once again. What were the chances of this man being the former owner? Sean was under the impression that this ship had been long abandoned if the owner had returned to find it stolen. Wait, this intruder had looked oddly familiar now, as if Sean had seen him before somewhere. he turned his attention lower to Rigrul's iron gauntlets which were the first to reveal themselves when they latched upon the ship. As if it were an innate gear, it sparked a reminder of the jolly roger Sean had previously encountered when he was exploring his new ship. The tips of the bones bared the spiked iron gauntlets, identical to the ones this man was wearing right now. And the jolly roger also wore an iron helmet with two blue spikes on each side; resembling the same that this man also wore. That's it! He must have been the former owner! "Wait you must be-"

“Does look like our old ship...no matter what though, it’s ours now regardless.”

Once again, Sean had been caught flat-footed and he was given no time to finish his sentence before being rather rudely interrupted by this new intruder's appearance. Finally, Sean slowly pushed himself back onto his feet, there was no doubt that these people were going to resort to physical violence. "I knew it! See I told you this is our ship!" Rigrul told his father quite enthusiastically."And all of you dared to doubt me!" A few more coughs abrupted from Rigrul's mouth. Rigrul's voice begun to annoy Sean. He was in no mood to hear this brute pride or his repetitive coughing. "Idiots...This was your ship. It's not anymore! It now belongs to a new generation of pirates with me as their captain!" Sean's fingers curled up into a fist, though he was alert that he was not wearing the cat claws. They were back inside the black suitcase which was conveniently always by Sean's side. Opening it up, Sean was quick to slide on his very own gloves with long swords at the end of each finger. Rigrul gritted his teeth and became enraged over Sean's blunt input.

"Why you insolent little brat! Do you even know who I am?" Rigrul yelled almost at the top of his lungs which had miraculously made a very quick recovery. "Forget about it Rigrul. Just hurry up and finish this amateur off. And do make it quick this time, we have been far too distracted over your little hunt." Rigby was much more clam and spoke in a much more lighter tone than Rigrul, since he merely looked down on Sean's words as an empty threat with little meaning. Nevertheless, Rigrul seemed much calm now and smiled evilly back at Sean. "Ok then let's make this introduction quick!"

"I'm Captain Rigrul!" He cried out as he was already in the middle of charging at Sean with his full speed. Not fast enough for Sean to analyse though, he was able to see Rigrul's fist building up with energy. "Iron Fist!" At that call, Sean raised up his claws to defend himself against an incoming fist, though that's what he was expecting. There was a reason as to why they calll him 'Cheap Shot Rigrul'. Instead of a punch, an incoming iron boot smashed against the side of Sean's rib cage. Sean moaned in pain, some blood rushed out of his mouth, as he found himself racing across the air and smashing on the floor at the other side of the deck. Rigrul's iron foot slammed itself down onto the wooden deck. "Ooops! I was meant to say 'kick'!"

"What a cheap shot!" Sean mumbled under his breath, as he wobbled himself back into a standing position. "Nahahahaha" Rigrul stepped back up to Sean, towering over him with a burst of laughter. Now angered some more, Sean opened his first attack with a sudden swipe from his right claw at Rigrul, aiming for his torso which was the only part of his body that was not covered in armour or clothing, other than his face. Unluckily, Sean onlyhad his attack clash against a huge iron gauntlet Rigrul wore. "Nahahaha. I'm going to have fun with this."

[Juli]

Juli cringed as she watched Sean get knocked across the ship. To his credit, he immediately returned to the battle, but this Rigrul guy didn’t look like he’d go down easy at this rate. Juli...wondered why she was still hiding behind a mast! Didn’t she say she was going to pull her weight just a moment ago?

Rigby watched the fight unfold. He stroked his long mustache before glancing behind him, into the water for a moment. He made a strange series of hand signals, one of which being a circular motion, before returning to watch the fight. Juli narrowed her eyes. She recalled something Rigrul said moments ago.

“And all of you dared to doubt me!”

All of you? A ship with supplies meant for more than two?

Juli was embarrassed she didn’t put it together sooner. Sean was distracted with Captain ‘Cheap Shot’ Rigrul. The old guy was doing nothing yet, but Juli could probably stop some of the other pirates! She had to find them first. She pushed herself away from the mast to the edge of the boat, edging along, keeping her sights ocean ward.

Rigby spotted her slipping away, but decided to go after her once the black haired brat was taken care of. How could one mermaid take out several boats full of men armed to the teeth? Especially since everything he had heard about mermaids insisted that they were peaceable creatures... Rigby did a double take. A mermaid?! He sighed, point still standing.

Juli reached the front of the ship, and her suspicions feared to be true. A rowboat, with at least 8 or so men was circling around the ship to the back. All Juli had to do was take them out...

Yeah, right. Juli crouched low, to avoid being seen. She couldn’t muster the courage to fight. They were armed and more numerous than her. It’d be better if she’d go to find Eddy. She went into motion once more...


“Heh, Rigby said that there’s only two of them. We’ve got this in the bag.” A pirate said, lounging on one of the rowboats. Rigby’s signals had already sent three ships off, but one still remained. Four boats too surround the ship fully, and the fifth, staying with the first, as fewer men piloted it.

“...Did anyone else hear anything?” one of the pirates asked. He turned his gaze to the edge of the boat to see two finned paws latched onto the side. He cried out in surprise, prompting the others to look and see what had happened.

The ship jolted as the paws pulled down on the side of the boat, pulling it underwater. The other side shot up, and the boat flipped over. The men onboard cried out as they were tossed into the drink. They scrambled to swim to the surface, but roughly half of them were tackled away. Stunned, they would take a few more moments to recover. Before they had known what had hit them, it seemed to vanish. Small spots of blood hung in the ocean, from where a pair of claws had struck out at the pirates.

To Eddy, these rowboats were but fish in this barrel of an ocean.

[Sean]

Rigrul continued his hideous laughter, using his other metallic gauntlet to grip Sean's head and ram it down onto the wooden floorboard. With a far greater strength than Sean, he could keep Sean's face against the floorboard with ease."Bastard, you're nothing but a kid! A thieving kid at that! You shouldn't go around playing pirate. This ship is our ship and it never belonged to you and it never will!" Rigrul took pleasure in applying a very gradual force on Sean's head, pushing against the wood.The pain was unbearable to suffer, but the torment of Rigrul's words simply gave Sean even more of a feeling to retaliate. Never did he claim to be playing pirate! Sean was a pirate and this boat was stolen and belonged to him now. On top of that, he was smarter than this cheap shot pirate and there must be a way to get out of this lock. "Shadow Doppleman" Sean muttered.

At that, Rigrul was too preoccupied trying to figure out what Sean tried to say to notice Sean's shadow stretching back from his feet and thrusting itself off from the ground. The humanoid blackness shared the same identical shape as Sean, copying his long bladed claws. Unable to make out exactly what Sean had muttered, by the time Rigrul noticed the shadow doppelgänger, it was much too late. Four bleeding cuts formed against Rigrul's face as the shadow had swiped its shadow cat claws across the cheap shot of a pirate. The attack was enough to force Rigrul into jumping back, now being left stunned over what he was seeing.

In an effort, Sean stood back onto his feet. His face revealed bruises and some blood trailed down from his mouth. No way did he succumb to the damage though. Standing next to his shadow, he glared on at his opponents, the shadow seemed to mimic him with its own vague purple eyes. It was obvious that Rigrul was bewildered by the shadow, it must have been miraculous to those who have never seen such powers. He simply watched in sheer astonishment; that thing had hit him! Meanwhile, Rigby too also caught a sight of his son, no, captain; being tossed off like paper and now being dumbfounded that he was hit by the shadow. Rigby was never caught astonished as Rigrul had been, though he did begin to grow more irritated over the matter. "You idiot Rigrul! I told you to finish him off quick. This is what happen when you toy with your victims." Clearly the brat was much more of a threat than he anticipated. Feeling even more irritated over his son's confusion over the concept of Sean's ability, it seemed he had to make sense to Rigrul to snap him out of it. "He has a devil fruit power."

The light flickered on in Rigrul's mind, it all made sense now. "Oh I see. You're a devil fruit user." Sean let out a sigh; they may have been rare in the East Blue, but it didn't take a genius to figure out that an abnormal power was a devil fruit. Then again, Sean was tired of waiting for any further. Sean was quick enough to analyze Rigrul's weak points. If he could easily counter an individual aimed at his bear torso or face, then he could not counter two. "Go for him." Sean commanded his shadow, which obeyed him and forward leaped at Rigrul. With a tangible claw, Sean's shadow swiped for Rigrul's face while in the air above Rigrul. As expected, Rigrul blocked off the shadows attack and attempted to counter with his other hand. Great he was wide open! Sean used his creeping cat, moving at a very fast speed; it looked as if Sean had vanished to Rigby who was still spectating, though he could catch a few glimpses of Sean as he crept toward Rigrul.

With a clean swipe across Rigrul's torso, Sean engraved four clear bleeding cuts across Rigrul's chest. Rigrul gasped in the pain for a moment, before gritting his teeth in rage and turning his attention back on Sean. The attack on Sean's shadow from the iron gauntlet was simply not enough to stop the shadow. Although it was countered, the gauntlet was pathetic to the shadows form and it simply went right through. The shadow took its place next to Sean again. "This is better. Let's do it again." "Why you little rodent!" Rigrul exclaimed.

As Sean opened his mouth to command his shadow to attack once again. Rigrul collapsed onto the wooden floorboard of the ship, kneeling down and placing one metallic hand on the ground to keep him stable. He began to cough, letting out what seemed to be a worse cough than the last, it was like a wheezing cough. Some blood spat out, like it was a horrible virus that was internally killing him. Rigby knew exactly what was coming, but he had no time to let his son 'play' with his enemies. And in a crisis with a devil fruit user, there was no time to waste, Sean had to be taken out now. The bald figure lifted up his cane from the ground and flipped it around, so the bottom tip of the cane was now pointed at Sean. He is a veteran, he is experienced, he is a marksman. With one shot this would all be over.