While Loguetown sleeps [Juli and marines]

[Sean]

The shadow apparition was inhuman. it had no nerves, it felt no pain, it had no feelings. The cooperative attempt of the shadows had failed. Sean's shadow abandoned it's killing blow, being able to detect the vine attack from behind, the shadow simply ducked. Instead the spiked vine had pierced through the head of Xander's very own shadow, and without the commands of its new owner, it couldn't help but struggle as it remained impaled to Xander's vine. Afterwards Sean's shadow would make a quick attempt to swipe the vine in an effort to detach it's fallen comrade. Unfortunately, it's effort was cut short as it could only make one swipe, before it was interrupted by the flurry of attacks Ritz had swung with her blade. The shadow of Sean oozed out some more, pieces detached from its body and simply floated in the air like bubbles. Eventually the shadow looked like a deformed abomination. The attempt to kill it was futile. The bubbles simply reattatched themselves to the body, the ooze that spilled simply shot back up, any parts missing simply reconstructed themselves to remake the body. This was not any other shadow. This was Sean's very own shadow, unlike the rest it had experience; it was a intangible to many blows physical attacks would otherwise, kill. It was fast to regenerate itself and with its last effort it would make that final killing blow it never could finish on the now unaware Ritz. In a second it's arm shot up and swung down, though the blow never came. Instead the shadow shot off into the direction of the piers as it was called to its master.

Musker may have been a corrupt marine who cheated his way to his rank, but he was no bad fighter. Both Sean and Musker exchanged a parry of swipes from their blades. Both of them receiving a few cuts were the strikes had hit, a few tears in each others clothes. Though nothing major yet. If Sean only had his other cat claw, instead of a black suitcase equiped, then Musker would have most likely been killed off. Since not, he would do the next best thing and call upon his shadow, this should finish off Musker once and for all. As the battle commenced, the shadow of its master returned to Sean once again and reattached itself to Sean, remaining now as an unilluminated being on the ground. Excellent! Now to simply finish off Musker! "Panther claw strike" Finally, with swipes almost as fast as his pussyfoot manoeuvres, Sean was able to land a series of blows upon Musker, much deeper than any mediocre cut both of them would have hit on each other. To Musker, it looked as if he was no longer fighting Sean, but what looked like an actual over-large cat like figure, a panther. The attack would have been much more lethal if Sean had another gauntlet on, though one was enough to cut Musker along his face, shoulder, arms and several other places on his body. The speed of Sean's swings were way too overwhelming for Musker's two sword experience to percept and eventually he gave in.

Dropping his two short swords upon the pier floor, Musker whelped in pain as the final swipt cut him across his torso. Musker, still able to support himself, kneeled down and placed his right hand on his chest to stop the blood from flowing out as if it were streaming out a tap. Sean had no feelings for Musker. He may have been a good fighter but he was barely a challenge for the superior might of the five blades Sean used. Although Sean did have to resort to one of his own techniques, which proved fatiguing as Sean was taking a few heavy breaths, at least he did not have to resort to any of his extremes. Musker would be back, there was no doubt. And when he did return for revenge upon Sean, hopefully he would be long gone by then. Leaving Musker to simply rot in his pool of blood, Sean rushed off deeper into the piers. His ship was now in sight...

Being completely correct though, Musker was indeed going to return, much too reluctant to give up now. He was enraged, anger had overcame any rationality he had left and it was as if money would never talk to him right now. "Hurry you idiots!" He yelled out to any marine who was left behind. he weakly lifted himself back up, as well as his swords. There was no effort to treat his injuries now, he simply allowed the blood to drip down. Right now, he was making one last attempt to take Sean down.

[Xander Touchstone Abernathy]

Xander growled a bit when his kick missed the intruder's shadow, but then he gasped even louder when it impaled his own shadow. He wondered if now that his shadow was defeated, he could have it back. Seeing as it was struggling around on the vine, Xander pulled it close and wrapped it in a big, viny hug. Now the hug had two purposes: One, he could apprehend that shadow that was causing so much trouble to their cause, and Two, he just wanted it back. Squeezing the inky black him to his chest, Xander wondered if he and his shadow could ever be put back together.

But then he remembered something, Musker was in charge of taking down the intruder, but he hadn't won yet. Releasing the shadow and throwing it on the ground, the young marine pointed a finger at it and said, "Stay..." Before rushing off to see if the captain needed help. The vision that met his eyes what far from what he wanted to see. Xander saw the moment when Sean had landed all those consecutive slashed to Musker and then left towards the ship. The sight of a blooded, beyond repair Musker rising from the pool of his own blood to challenge Sean one last time brought tears of extreme hatred and adoration to the recruit's eyes. Every fiber in his being told him to impale the intruder right then and there, just as vengeful retribution, but his mind said no. This was Musker's dying wish, so who was he to stand in the way, "Musker...." He muttered, watching from behind a small building.

[Juli]

The blond marine with the sword approached Juli, insisting she leave. Unsure of what to do, she inched away. The pair’s movements were interrupted when the other, fidgety Marine fired, causing Juli to jump in shock, sprawling on the ground, heart racing. Lawrence stared at the Marine with wide eyes.

Eddy went for the kill.

With a roar of anger and mild shock from the sound of the bullet, Eddy jumped at the Marine. Despite his fear, his instincts allowed him to get out of the way of the ton of scales, tooth, and claw heading his way. The fidgety Marine fired away, one bullet hitting just above Eddy’s eye, somehow dodging the claw strikes aimed his way. Realizing he wasn’t dead yet, he received a boost of confidence. He could do this! Dropping his unloaded pistol, he redrew his cutlass and swung. The blade cut into Eddy’s shoulder, drawing blood.

Then Eddy’s fangs found their way into his shoulder. The Marine cried out in pain and horror as Eddy shoved him to the ground, where he went silent. Walking with a slight limp, Eddy turned his gaze onto Lawrence Pure Regent.

Juli, still on the ground, whispered to Lawrence, “Uh...if you stay, he is definitely going to...hurt your...face?” Juli’s threat carried about as much weight as a ripped paper bag.

[Lawrence Pure Regent]

Lawrence stared at the marine, wide-eyed. Turning back to the bear-looking thing, Lawrence felt a rush of adrenaline as the beast stepped closer to him. hWhat should I do?h Lawrence told himself as he drew his nodachi and gave a good swing towards the ground. The fact that the beast was about to kill him scared him for sure, but there was a marine on the boat that was almost dead! The cry from the taken down soldier only made the situation worse as Lawrence started towards the attacker. hI donft want to do this! But itfs your choice!h Leaping into the air, Lawrence poised into an attacking form and dove towards the Umima. At the last second, Lawrence flipped, and landed on the animalfs head. Using it as a footstep, the recruit leapt towards the marine. As he landed, the boat they were on shook slowly, and the injured marine gasped for breath, obviously thinking that his life was over in just a few seconds. hYou okay?!h Lawrence bent down and stared into the marinefs face, which looked awful. The injuries looked very severe, having an unknown animal bite you on the shoulder was very dangerous. Many animals throughout the East Blue could infect a lot of people, but with the right medicine, it could be cured. With an unknown creature like this, hope was all many could have to pray that they are not infectious.

hBring him down here!h A voice now entered the chaos. Peeking over the boat, Lawrence saw the marine that had been thrown overboard. He seemed like he was still soaking wet, but at least the marine had grasped the situation so far. hCatch!h Lawrence shoved his nodachi into the boatfs deck as he carried the marine with both of his hands ( was still heavy ) to the side of the boat. Gently tossing the body, Lawrence heard a ethumpf sound before he turned around to pick up his weapon. hI never wanted to do this, but you made mec..h Slowly falling into a crouched stance, Lawrence stared at the Umima, then at the mermaid. hIt go time!h Rushing forward, the recruit leapt into the air once more, but he now poised his sword in front of him. hSTORM IMPACT!!!h Shouting, the marine swung furiously at his target, the Umima. He had hoped there wasnft any violence. Seems like there was now.

[Sean]

Naturally, Xander's shadow was lost in confusion and could only stay, as it was weakened enough to lay flat on the ground after Xander's 'embracing' attack. It did stay still indeed, gradually eroding itself into a puddle of black ooze, being lost without any more commands from its master that liberated the shadow from the body. The shadow warrior remained useless now until Sean recalled it.

Meanwhile, Sean had crossed the maze of boats until he made it onto the pier where his ship could be boarded. Everything was in his reach now, only a few more meters away. Typically, Musker had gotten up on his last determination, content on catching Sean. "Do not let him get away!" With the last thrust of energy left, Musker charged at Sean with his full speed. Musker's marine coat blew backwards, against the wind, as he leapt himself in the air and crossed his two swords together to form an 'X' shape with his dual blades. By the time he lands he would slice Sean with both of his swords and cut him through.

Luckily for Sean, the creaks that Musker gave off while running on the wooden pier let out enough noise for Sean to anticipate that Musker was coming in at a fast pace behind. There was the boarding bridge to his ship! Though he can't let Musker on; it was time to finish him off for good now. The area that Sean was in now was not illuminated with light source other than a few lanterns on some of the ships , though it was still vaguely clear to make out Musker's incoming attack. Finally, concealed by the darkness, Sean stretched out his shadow just below Musker. "Horn Blade Shadow" Musker was caught in mid air. His dual sword attack dropped and Musker moaned in pain when a spear shaped shadow erected itself underneath Musker and pierced through his chest. Blood slid down the black shadowy spear like figure, but in this darkness, it was impossible to make out exactly what it was. The shadow dropped itself once more and reformed itself back to Sean's original shape. Musker too dropped down and layed flat on the wooden pier. He had no more energy left in him to carry on the chase anymore. Instead he just lay against the floor, unconscious over his fatal wound.

[Xander Touchstone Abernathy]

Xander sighed a bit, watching sadly as Musker continued to fight with the intruder. For some odd reason, he felt sad about it. He felt a hollowness towards all the fighting that has been happening, and he didn't like it. The young marine recruit pushed a curly black lock of hair out of his face and ran off towards the ship. "The ship..." Xander muttered, noticing the people being knocked off of it. Seeing how injured they where, he shuddered a bit, "What happened? Is a bear mauling the place?" He asked sarcastically as he went onto the ship. Xander had kicked off his sandals so that when he walked on the ship, not a clunk or a creak would be heard from him, allowing him to sneak up on any enemy that was beating the marines up. Treading silently through the dark shadows that hid him, Xander peered through a window and saw, what appeared to be a bear-thing with a mermaid...and a Marine!

By the sounds of growling and the, rather weak threat, Xander surmised that the marine and the Mermaid weren't on the best of terms right now. But it looked like something bad was about to happen, so he tried the best he could. Turning his fingers into thin, curly vines, Xander snaked them through a crack in the wall of wood and slowly began to wrap them around the mermaid, giggling softly.

[Juli]

“I don’t want to do this! But it’s your choice!” Lawrence the Marien cried out as he jumped at Eddy. The Umima braced himself, but was surprised and enraged when he used his head as a footstool and leapt off. Eddy stood confused for a few moments, not seeing where Lawrence went off too. Vocies behind him made him aware, and he turned to see Lawrence readying a strike. Eddy waited a moment before pushing off to the side, nearly dodging the attack, which grazed his side. Eddy clutched the deck, as if to charge again, but instead charged in a completely different direction. He reached the edge of the boat and leapt off.

Juli blinked as she watched the events unfold, but her jaw dropped when Eddy fled. She had not know the Umima to be one for cowardice. Was he planning something? Eddy wasn’t terribly bright...

Juli kept her mouth shut, hoping the Marine would forget about her or something. Unlikely, but he wouldn’t be able to capture her, not as long as she was venomous. She was far luckier than other mermaids for that.

Juli tensed when she thought she heard something. It was almost like...soft laughter? She felt an itch on her arm, not thinking she looked to see that, somehow, vines had sprouted out of the wood and tied themselves around Juli’s arm. She cried out in shock before moving with her other arm to untie it, but it only managed to get both of her arms entangled. Juli flailed about in a panic, not sure what was going on anymore.

Moments ago, in the sea...

Eddy swam with all his might away from the ship, backtracking. He slipped through a wooden grate, emant for keeping larger creatures out of the harbor. He arrived at what seemed to be a pile of rocks. Swiftly, Eddy smashed into it with his finned paw. The ‘rock pile’, was the same one he passed with Juli just minutes ago. With a roar, a Sea King burst from his half buried state of sleep. With dark gray scales, huge, blue eyes, and yellow fangs in a jaw like that of an alligators, the limbless Sea King was unpleased about the abrupt ending to his rest. It spotted Eddy and roared, swimming after the Umima.

Eddy was already moving. The Sea Bear swam back through the wooden grate. Normally, a Sea King would not be bothered to break through it, as prey worth the trouble couldn’t fit through it either. Eddy, however, was worth the trouble to the mad Sea King. It’s teeth shredded the wood, splintering it, and it’s pace hardly slowed.

A few moments later, Eddy burst from the Sea, landing on the harbor docks next to the ship Juli was on. The Marines a few feet away, tending to an unconscious one, looked to see Eddy and flinched back a step. Before he could cry out, the Sea King burst through the water as well, extending to its full height over the water’s surface, glaring at Eddy.

Eddy’s plan to create a distraction had nearly been successful. There was still the matter of the Sea King in between Eddy and the ship...

Never expect a Umima to think things through.

Teh Umima had a stroke of luck when the sword weilding Marine leapt from the deck into the face of the newly appeared serpent. Eddy wasn't sure what the hell he was thinking, but he didn't really mind.