One Piercing Note

One Piercing Note
It had been mere days since the Dewdrop Pirates had ventured across the surface of the island of the rare animals, and mere days since the rarest of them all --a Cavalier Birdman-- had mysteriously landed upon the spar emanating from their ship's hull, only to propel itself away from the two members of the crew without so much a proper greeting, leaving nothing more in its wake than a torrent of wind. With nothing to remember the bird by, an enigma shrouded itself over the Gaston; had they even come face to face with such a creature? Or had it all been a dream?

With their sights set so benightedly upon the Grand Line, Meliodas and Alva looked the part of curious roamers. They were both incredibly eager to learn more about the world around them, passionately so. But to refer to them as pirates was blasphemy. Much like their confrontation with the exotic Cavalier Birdman, they had absolutely no evidence to support such a profound claim.

For now they were mere explorers, exploring whatever moved within their near vicinity. This only delayed their ultimate goal of entering the Grand Line, as well, they quite literally visited each individual island they came upon, so in that regard surely this curiosity of theirs was most certainly a curse? Ambiguous to danger as they were, they had been fortunate enough to escape the clasps of horror up until now, seeing very little of what the sea truly had to offer them. But there was a method to the madness that the wind currently portrayed; glistening with a preciously even tune, it was almost as if it were crying out for danger, begging for it to knock on the door of the Dewdrop Pirates. And this time, it promised, matters wouldn't be as easily resolved.

- - -

Zork Atoll. A ring shaped infrastructure rich and vibrant with all sorts of wildlife. And as to be expected, in the coming of exotic plants were equally exotic animals, who helped themselves to the former on just about every occassion of the day. As unique in appearance as they may have been, the creatures that inhabited this island were far from foul beasts; on the contrary, they were very much the exact opposite. They were calm, sincere, even warm-hearted; they made the best of pets, and for this reason were hunted to no end by poachers who visited on a daily basis.

But the monstrosity that had made the island the site of his training at the start of this day was no poacher at all. He was what the Dewdrop Pirates could only pretend to be: a real pirate. A pirate who was known throughout all of East Blue for possessing a whopping bounty of 25,000,000; a pirate who identified himself with the color of his beard, much like countless others in the past; a pirate who wielded the power of a Logia outside of the facets of the Grand Line. He was none other than Bluebeard.

With his firstmate, "Soko" --just about the only meaningful member of his crew-- at his side, the blue bearded tyrant reshaped the ground of the jungle beneath his own two feet, desperately trying to comprehend how best to operate the powers of his Devil Fruit. He tore apart whole animals that had come in his way, uprooted entire trees from their place in the dirt, all for the sole purpose of perfecting his abilities. Sure he was a big deal here in the East Blue; but even a pirate as notorious as him knew that were he to have so much as a chance at surviving amongst the monsters of the Grand Line, he'd need to be able to wholeheartedly rely on his Logia powers in battle.

In the near distance, the Gaston reeled toward Zork Atoll. Ship of the Dewdrop Explorers, the two scientists were greatly horrified at the sight that welcomed them unto the island; it was like the whole jungle that they had been looking at as they stepped foot onto the beach was being mowed down, one tree at a time. The sand beneath their shoes was shaking, like a precursor to an all too coincidental earthquake. What in the world could it be? Could it perhaps be a large beast that Meliodas would enjoy documenting? Or was it an obscene lumberjack that was collecting wood to make a ship out of? Whatever it was, to say it instantly garnered the interest of the two explorers would have been an understatement.

Melodias was full of confusion as he jumped down from his ship, followed by his first mate, Alva. The 16 year old looking 120 year old was quite puzzled. He adjusted his boots and brushed his hair out of his calm blue eyes. They had approached the island as they did any other, hoping to see what creatures hid within its forests. Though they had only found lines of trees falling to some unknown force. "What the hell is going on?" He asked the wind as he stared at the falling trees. "I doubt it's an animal, why would anything destroy its home in such a way." He spoke aloud, question his own knowledge. The earth shook beneath his feet shook as the soft sand sifted around, the rumbling was chaotic. "Alva do you think this is an earthquake?" He asked his companion as he bent down and grabbed a handful of leaves. With a small green flash they turned to a swarm of hummingbirds that flew off into the sky. He hoped they would see something he did not.

Alva stared at the ensuing destruction in confusion. "Me-me not certain, ye know? Me mean, me ain't never been in an earthquake, but me not sure it could do something like this unless it be a pretty bad one." He stumbled onto the ground, falling face first into the shifting muds. He sighed in frustration. "Yeah, definitely not an earthquake. It be too long. Me assume it has to be something big as shite, so me thinks it'd be best if we leave it the freak be, don't ya agree with me, Melodias?" he inquired rhetorically, for he knew the answer would be no. It's always been no. He couldn't count on how many times he almost died since his time with Melodias. In fact, the kid was the reason he bought a sword, and a book on how to use it. It cost him a freaking fortune, and the book wasn't all that helpful, but it was at least something he could use if he really had to. Though, normally, Melodias did all the fighting. As Melodias continued to stare off into the distance, ignoring Alva's question, he shook his head disappointedly.

"Alright, let's go figure out what the heck it is."

Standing in an enclosure of toppled trees, up churned earth and decaying animal corpses, Bluebeard continuously and repeatedly strikes at the ground creating small tremors and cracks in the earth itself. "Farrg tis still ain't right," shouted Bluebeard in frustration as he coats his arm once again in Earth before swinging it towards one of the few standing trees shattering it in his frustration. "If I can nah get this down we ain't gonna last a single Day in th' Grandline," muttered Bluebeard as he was again set about training his Devil Fruit.

"Ara ara," Sokolov Anastasiya began, smirking. "Patience is key to this, Bluebeard. It takes time to get an understanding of the abilities the fruits give us."

Soko stood in a pile of decayed animal corpses, staring at her captain, observing him as he attempted to acquire an understanding of his powers. She stretched, her long black hair reaching her waist. Her crimson eyes reflecting the light onto the ground below. Her red jacket purposely one size too small, meant to distract her male opposers, as the jacket accentuated her curves.

"Think of it like this, Bluebeard," she began, taking a step forward. "Your fruit is a Logia, meaning you are earth. So try to think of the earth as...something you love. It'll be easier to picture and create things." she finished, letting a monotone expression manifest on her face.

As the dominos fell into place below, a lone bird circled the skies above the island, running lap after lap around the ring that was Zork Atoll. Yet it did so whilst flying at a slow and steady pace, like a vulture patiently awaiting its opportunity to feast.

The hummingbirds relayed some interesting information to Melodias. The first was that the beautiful bird he had seen on his ship was circling the island. He almost stopped to go after it but the next bit of information made him forget all about it. There was a man on the island terraforming it without regard, the corpses of both plants and animals piling up around them. His blood ran cold as he began to stride forwards, not even looking at Alva. He tapped large toppled trees as they passed them, the dead wood flashing with green as it became life. As Melodias burst through the woods into the clearing where the culprit stood, his companions stayed in the shadows of the trees.

He saw a man pounding the earth apart, he saw topped trees, but what sickened him most was the rotting corpses of animals. "What the hell is wrong with you," he screamed as he entered the clearing. "What are you doing here, killing all these plants and animals while you completely mess up their habitat. Why are you doing this?" His small body was shaking with anger, he'd never seen this many corpses before.

Alva followed behind him, "Yeah man, what are ye doing? This is stupid. You ought to know what happens when ye mess with nature. It just blows ye head off like it did that poor man Gaston!" Alva pointed his finger heroically towards Bluebeard. "You mess with nature, it messes with ye!"

Having headed Soko's advice and tried to imagine the earth beneath his feet as gold something he loved with all his heart, he began to feel at ease feeling the earth bend to his will easier and faster however just as he was about to grasp the feeling a pair of voices shattered his concentration causing the feeling to slip away and the earth to crumble away. Snapping his eyes open he located the the source of said Voices a teen child and anther man stood on the outreaches of his created enclosure glaring at him. "Ye Bloody fools I nigh-on grasped it," shouted Bluebeard in rage as he round upon them slightly causing the earth to rumble as he began to make his way towards them. "Do ye understand wha' th' farrg ye jus' did, ye pubescent brat," questioned Bluebeard as he stood in front of them both easily towering over both Melodias and Alva glaring down upon then with nothing but fury in his golden eyes.

Soko raised her eyebrows in dismay. "These poor bastards don't know what they're getting into." she thought to herself, making her way to stand beside her captain. Compared to him, she was an ant. A very intelligent ant. She stared at the two, letting an expression of surprise manifest upon her face. "What are you two doing here?" she questioned innocently. "Did we do anything wrong?"

"I don't understand what I did to you at all, I really don't care though." Melodias stated coldly. He clenched his fists in an attempt to quell his shaking as he looked up at the two. "I'd like you two to explain that pile of corpses behind you. I'd like you to explain why these trees are all dead. I'd like you to explain the crooked and wrecked earth all around. Why the hell are you killing everything?" His voice was firm with an underlying tone of rage.

"Exactly! Tell us what the heck ye be doing here? Understand for we give ye the fist, haha," Alva cheered bravely as he stood behind Melodias, hiding part of his body behind his own. "Ye better understand what happens when ye mess with nature! It pays ye back in full, and it seems that nature brought us here for this reason. So me guess you boy, take your lover, and bounce on outta here 'fore things get ugly!"

Staring down upon the Melodias and feeling his patients hitting it's very end, Bluebeard merly snarled showing of his sharper than normal gold covered canine's. "Wha' I be doin' here ain't yer business Kid," spoke Bluebeard as he spreads his arms wide. "So wha' if a few creatures bare slaughtered 'n tree's toppled, 'tis th' circle o' life, shit happens, now run along afore any o' th' remainin' patients I 'ave left runs out 'n I become truly angry," stated Bluebeard before leveling them with an intense stare and speaking with a hollow and ominous tone of voice, "That's somethin' ye don't wants, 'cause ye definitely  won't like me when I be angry,".

Soko smirked, snickering as Alva spoke. "You two best listen to him, he's very scary when he's angry," she began, patronizing Alva and Melodias. She took a step forward, leaning forward slightly to make some of her womanly features in direct contact with Alva's eyes. "Plus, I'm even scarier." she finished, her crimson eyes seemingly glaring into the soul of both Alva and Melodias.

"And so what if the captain killed some animal corpses, they're just animals. You can never run out of them, they keep appearing in places you don't even want them to be. So last warning, you two back the hell off."

"You slaughtered them for no reason, left them to become rotting corpses. That's not the circle of life, that's called murder," he responded as he stared two angrily. Then the girl said something that just made it worse. "Just animals. Just animals? We're all animals every single one of us. People like you just get so stuck up and think you run the show. You think that you can just make corpses like nothing cause you're better than nature. Let me tell you something, nature is infinite. It was here before us and it'll be here after us. Even if the whole world went to shambles it would go on without humans. So I wont just stand here and let you think you own this forest," Melodias finished.

He stepped away from the two and motioned to the forest. A herd of deer emerged, walking gently to him and Alva. He placed his arm around one as the other grazed nearby. "What did these creatures ever do to you?"

Alva backed away, moving to a nearby rock large enough for him to hide behind. "Yeah, what did they ever do to ye!" he continued instigating. "Look, Melodias. Me just say we beat the livin dirt of them! Let nature feel their wrath like ye did Gaston!"

Turning towards Alva before sweat dropping at his current location before shifting back to a serious look before focusing on Melodias. "I'll give ye one last time t' heed me warnin' 'n Leave afore I turn me wrath upon ye," growled out Bluebeard as he reaches for a that is tucked into his sash.

Soko stared at Melodias and Alva, snickering at Alva backing away. "Is the little idiot hiding behind a child? Can't say I'm surprised." she stated, now turning towards Melodias. "You better screw off and let the captain exercise his power, or he'll rip you to pieces."

"Behind you sits a mountain of corpses that I won't simply forgive. I asked you why you did it yet you refuse to answer. You threaten me, you're preparing to kill attack or harm me. Though I got a warning didn't, multiple warnings to turn back. These animals didn't get a warning. No one telling them to run and hide or to get out while they can. I bet you if a deer was in your path you'd cut it down rather than step around it." Melodias spoke venomously, his gaze cold as he counted to quell his shaking body.

Alva retreated fully behind the rock, leaving only his head poking out. "Yeah! Ye would totally do that! And probably to impress that girl over there too," Alva instigated, "But me will tell ye something. She's not even that attractive! But, I guess with a mug like ye's, you musn't 'ave lots of options, haha!"

Losing the last of his patients and whatever lenience he tried to hold back, Bluebeard simple with drew his pistol and fired off a single bullet which grazed the cheek of Alva all the while staring at Melodias. "I gave ye a warnin', I gave ye a chance t' weigh anchor and avoid confrontation, I even held me temper in check, but ye refused t' heed me words and continued t' push and accuse blaspheme because I'm upsettin' th' balance o' What Nature,"? Shouted out Bluebeard and he trembles in rage. "Listen lad and listen, Well Nature, wealth, Bond, Peace this entire fuckin' world means nothin' t' me, Do ye be knowin' why,"? Questioned Bluebeard as he peers down upon Melodias, arching his body down to be face to face with the much shorter male.

"Because I'm a Pirate, and all that matters t' me be Freedom, th' freedom t' do as I please, To plunder till me hearts leaps with joy, Murder till me own hands be fuckin' stained crimson Red, gorge and fest on whatever I bloody want, so ye ask if a deer crossed me path would I cut it down instead o' goin' aroun'," Bluebeard stated as a grin broke out upon his face once again showing the world his gold covers Canines. "Aye, because I'm a very greedy lubber, while wealth and fame mean nothin' t' me I still want it all, that deer has meat I can feast upon so I take it, and ye lad have earned me ire and bein' th' greedy motherfucker I be, I think I'll take that foolish life o' yers," Bluebeard stated as the ground beneath then suddenly let out a horrifying wail and it began to rumble.

Soko sighed. "Of course. The two idiots don't see the bigger picture." she chided to herself, cracking her knuckles. Now Bluebeard was worked up, and the idiots were about to indirectly cause more damage to this island. "Oi, Bluebeard. After you screw this island up, let's claim it as our territory. It'd allow us to get some more notoriety."

Melodias flinched as he heard the pistol fire. He turned to see Alva clutch his face. He felt the ground rumble around them. In one movement he jumped backwards, looking up to face the earth shaker. "Nature will make you pay." With that single sentence the the ground began to rumble louder as two beasts emerged from the woods. They had crowned heads much like triceratops but their bodies were red, larger, and covered in glowing craters. The beasts roared as they charged towards the two.

The creatures were known as smelter beasts. They were native to Melodias' home island. The craters on their backs created enough heat to melt down metal and thus they were usually used in smelting. Their thick skin was hard enough to stop most weapons. Due to their use in smelting their hides were coated with thick layers of metal that gave them even greater defense. They could also spew that molten metal as a defense mechanism.