Thorn and a Wolf

The warm sun shined over the Kingdom of Brista. It's intense rays clobbered on exposed legs, specifically those who chose to step out of their homes without the neccessary sunscreen. For many, Summer was fairly hated on due to the amount of heat the season brought along with it. I mean, who likes to be sweaty and stinky anyway? But then you had others, mostly younger children, who mourned for the summer to roll around so that they could stay up late and do things they normally could not during other seasons: courtesy of their strict parents.

Brista itself enjoyed the summer season, it's when the Kingdom was actually able to make most of its money and not have to strive on what Asha would lend them. During the summer, Brista was the ultimate tourist and vacation location with its many beaches and extravagant places to visit throughout the kingdom. These two features alone allowed the Kingdom to make well have 1,000,000,000,000, enough to pay Asha for lending them a hand during the other three seasons and help supply its inhabitants as well.

Enough about the economy of Brista, we now dive into the Gary's Tavern where pirates gather during their voyage to take a break and loosen up a bit. Within pirates did two things; celebrated their findings during their voyage or were depressed with the things they didn't or comrades they lost during their journey.

A man of white hair sat at the bar. His head was propped up, his arms were folded, and his eyes were closed tight. The bartender approached the man with a grand smile on his face.

"Hey!" He exclaimed just before reaching him. "Welcome to Gary's Tavern, can I help you with anything?!"

The man of white-haired remained silent and his eyes remained shut. Another worker walked over to grab the bartender, jerking the man away from in front of the mute. "You dumbass!" The other worker shouted, keeping his own eyes peeled on the quiet man from earlier. "That's Justice's Thorn"!" He turned around to a wall with many bounty posters sitting on it, reaching for the one on top for a man's image that was strikingly similar to the one sitting at the bar. "He's the one who backstabbed his brother and the Marines during that whole El Dorado incident."

The bartender pointed at a set of numbers underneath the picture, "100,000,000 Bounty?! For this frail guy? Ain't no way! Ferrothorn... Braxton. I've heard that name outside of the Marines before."

Suddenly, the doors of the tavern flung open and a man dressed in a suit and tie. His most noticeable feature was the large scar on the side of his face. Everyone greeted the man upon his entrance, he seemed to be well known among this crowd of people. Instead of stopping to speak with any of them, he headed straight for the bar, plopping a seat right next to Braxton.

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Braxton reached into his coat jacket and placed the ringing Den Den Mushi on the table.

Pururururururururu

He finally picked it up.

"Oho! Lord Braxton!" The voice shouted, but instead of responding Braxton simply tapped on the shell of the Den Den Mushi.

"I know I know, but it's got a really good ring to it. Well, whatever, I've got big news, Braxton. It seems that reverie will be held at Dressrossa this year. Though, you might not like the company that'll be there. From what I was told, Solomon, Kurama, Terell, and many others will be attending. Probably because of it being held in such an easy to target place."

Again, Braxton began to tap on the Den Den Mushi's shell, this time more than the last. "Okay okay, so you want to go with that plan. I will contact them and make preparations for Project Borque!" The two continued their conversation where the man on one side of the den den mushi would talk and Braxton would tap.

The bartender from before approached the man sitting next to Braxton, who still even at this moment, had his eyes closed and still in the position from before. "Scarface! It's been a while baby!" The bartender extended his hand out and shook the suited man's hand a formal greeting.

"Yeah, the only time I can come here is during the Summer vacation." He propped his hand against his cheek and leaned against the bar using his elbow. "The underworld has gotten hectic recently, especially with the Yonko foolishness going on, I'll have to start killing people if this gets too out of hand." Scarface responded. To give a quick introduction, Scarface is a very influential man in the Underworld but has yet to reach that Kingly title held by those who run the underworld trading system.

"I've heard," the bartender responded nodding his head as he used a rag to clean the inside of a glass. "Well, you're on vacation now! No need to worry about that stuff! I'll go and make your favorite. I'll be right back."

Scarface called back, "No rush." then turned to face the man sitting next to him. "I know you." He stated, eyeing Braxton in the rudest way possible. "Ferrothorn."

Braxton didn't even turn Scarface's way and instead, slid the Den Den Mushi across to him. Tapping onto the Den Den Mushi's shell. The voice called through it. "We know you too, Scarface. In fact, we are here just for you. Don't ask how we got the information, just listen to what I am about to say."

Scarface began to shift his view from Braxton to the Den Den Mushi constantly. "I see, so you are him. Okay, I'll play along."

"There is no playing along, "Scarface"." The voice placed emphasis on the man's name. "I told you, we know who you are and I'd advise you pick up the Den Den Mushi, unless you want the rest of the people in that Tavern to know as well."

Without another word, Scarface quickly lifted it from the table, but he remained claim. "For some reason, I feel like ya' bluffin'. But, I ain't gonna take a chance."

"Good, now you seem to get it. Braxton will give you instructions. Oh, and Scarface... Braxton doesn't talk much and when he does... He hates when people don't listen. Riz, signing off." The Den Den Mushi hung up and Scarface let out a chuckle.

"This is new, I like the way you two operate. Gives me ideas." The scared man added, turning his attention to Braxton who managed to maintain his position.

"That Den Den Mushi is yours to keep." Braxton finally spoke for the first time. "I will call you when I need you and you will answer. Now leave." Not once did Braxton make eye contact with the man, he didn't need to. It was just as Riz mentioned, his words were more than enough.

Scarface lifted himself from his seat at the bar and exited just as Braxton instructed, but his mind had a million thoughts running through it.