Swordfish

Fishy Reunions
A soft refreshing mist blew through the paradise air, clinging to the leaves, plants, and trees like metal to magnets, creating morning dew. Despite it being the early hours of the day, the seas still moved and the fish still swam, this especially held true on a small island in the beginning part of paradise, Verat Island. No stranger to marines or aspiring pirates, but this small fishing and merchant island was generally quiet, but for just how long?

Deep inland was a small cluster of homes, though one seemed to be a bit larger than the others. Upon further inspection, a boy could be seen standing to the front of the larger house, twiddling his thumbs, seemingly shy and anxious for some unknown reason. The boy wore standard marine garb, however with his own added flair of a baby blue colored yukata and a sword on his hip. This boy was Francis Drake, well known marine solider, garnering the rank of Captain in just his short time as a member of the great force known to the world as the Marines.

“C’mon Drake, you can do this. So what you ran away to the marines without telling her, she can’t be that mad. After all, you did send her letters, even though she didn’t respond...” Drake spoke to himself, taking a few deep breaths as he simply stood before the door, a visage of a beautiful, angry and strong woman drifting through his mind as he spoke, this woman, of course, being his mother.

“Snap out of it!” Drake said aloud, giving himself a small smack to the face as his expression went from one of anxiousness to one more brave and determined. He would then lift his hand to the door, cocking back his wrist in order to give the door a hardy knock, but before his fist could hit the door, it flew open before him.

“What took you so long to knock, my baby!” A long brown-haired woman leaped from where she stood to hug Drake, landing in his arm as he stood startled. He would then give her a hardy hug in return, shifting his leg back as to avoid them both falling back onto the stoop.

“Where have you been!” The woman said more sternly, giving Drake a hardy punch to the back of his head, the same scary expression he imagined had been born into reality and taken its place on his mother’s face. “Get yer ass inside, we’ve got alotta catchin’ up to do!” She said, a large grin on her face as she dragged the boy in by his arm, closing the door behind them, a large face apparent on Drake's face as he was dragged, back home once again.

Amongst the various citizens walking throughout the streets of Verat Island walking, there was a young man who stood out as he pulled a large wooden cart behind him, drawing the attention of people and causing them to pause in their activities to observe him. On the side of the cart, there was a name written in red paint to act as a sign: THe Wandering Blade. The person pulling the cart was Wayland, a recent criminal within the eyes of the World Government and the Blacksmith.

Stopping at a nearby bench, he sat down and sighed in exasperation. It had been a nearly week following his encounter with Lambert Cecilia and subsequent leaving of. He was still fuzzy on the details of the battle but he recalled his master apparently left him a boat in order to escape from the Marines into the. Within the boat, he found all of the weapons he forged and two other items. A and Reginn's Journal.

"Walk tall, my son.." Wayland said aloud, recalling the message Reginn had left him. Four simple words with such a deep meaning. A smirk spread across his face, knowing what his master wanted him to do and goddamnit, he was gonna do it. He would stand tall and become the Greatest Blacksmith in the World. After all, it already lined up perfectly with his goal.

Pushing himself off the bench, Wayland pulled his wooden cart with great force and ran down the road as dust clouds followed after him. Even if he was only going to be on this island for two days to let the Log Pose reset, he could still do some light training to hone his body as it appeared nobody else wanted to buy weapons from him.

"This is gonna be the start of a great adventure." Wayland chuckled to himself, smiling.

“Wow, you’ve accomplished so much in such a short time! I do wish you would’ve told me...but nonetheless, I’m still proud of you, Drake.” His mother remarked, taking a soft sip from a hot cup of tea as she concluded her statement, sitting across from him at the dining room table, some kind of food cooking in the background.

Drake smiled warmly, clutching his cup in his hand as he leaned on the table. “So, I can’t say this is exactly a leisurely visit, I’m actually here on business, I’m gonna be fighting a pirate, and, I thought you’d like to watch! I can show you how much I’ve grown with my Fish-Man Kenjutsu!” Drake spoke enthusiastically, hoping his mother would deign to watch him fight.

“While I don’t exactly condone all of the Marine's actions...I can’t pass up the chance to see you in action after so long, so yes, I’ll follow you. But, if you lose! So help me god, I’ll stick my foot so far down your throat you grow gills!” Drake’s mother spoke, her tone becoming more menacing and scary in accordance to her words as she placed her hands on the table and stood from her seat, grabbing her sword and attaching it to her skirt and slipping on her slippers. “Lead the way.” She said.

“G-got it!” Drake said, more than flustered by the scary expression she had, no matter how accustomed he may have gotten to it, it scared him every time.

Drake would lead his mother out the door and into town, scouting around as he began his covert search for the pirate, many civilians immediately realizing him and his affiliations, even greeting a few he knew from his time on the island.

He would glance down at a tattered bounty poster as he made his way into the main part of town, scanning the crowd as he searched for the boy on the poster, his mother following closely behind, observing him as he worked. It was clear she had a few critiques, but alas, she kept her mouth shut and allowed the boy to work.

A few moments later Drake’s eyes would lock with an average looking boy, a wagon trailing behind him as he normally walked through town. He bore a great resemblance to the boy in the bounty posted, but his mundane attitude gave Drake suspicions, but nonetheless, he looked into it.

He approached the boy, clearing his throat loudly as he did, making his presence known and in a way, showing off to his mother.

“Hello Sir, I’m Captain Francis Drake and I would like to know if this is you in this bounty poster?” Drake spoke clearly and stoically, puffing up his chest as his mother rubbed her temples and shook her head in disapproval behind him, knowing exactly what this would lead to.

"Absolutely not," Wayland answered in a monotone voice, having no desire to deal with another Marine so soon. He hadn't even done anything wrong in the distribution of his his weapons and as far as he was concerned, the World Government could take their problems with him and shove it up their ass along with their -sized pride. "So do me a favor and leave me alone, Guppy."

“G-guppy!” Drake said, shocked by the boy's reaction. His mother seen over his shoulder, holding her laughter back as to stop any further embarrassment on Drake.

Drake once again motioned to address the boy, moving in front of him as he would continue to walk. “I’m sorry if I angered you, but I have to do my job, and you simply match the description of this pirate too much, so I’m forced to take you in for further questioning,” Drake remarked sternly, halting Wayland in his path and holding out a pair of sea stone cuffs.

"Alright, you wanna do this? Just know you could have walked away, guppy." Wayland said, sighing in annoyance as he scratched his head. Within a split second, he reached behind him and drew forth two of the display weapons from his wooden cart: a halberd and short sword. He swung the short sword downward with the intention of slamming it into the seastone cuffs and knocking them out of Drake's hand as he thrust the halberd into Drake's torso, specifically the right side.

"By the way, I'm not a pirate!" Wayland proclaimed loudly.

Drake’s would take a deep breath as Wayland attacked, the world slowing around him, feeling every particle of water in the air around him as he took a deep breath out. Drake would wrap the cuffs around the blade, stopping it in its path downwards. As the halberd would come at his torso he would use one cuff to block the blade, stopping it just short of his body as it went through the center of the cuffs. “Gotta be quicker than that!” Drake remarked in a deep and soft tone, opposite to his more high pitched voice he normally has.

Drake would swiftly leap into the air above the pair, yanking the cuffs along with him, aiming to snatch the weapons from the boys hand and disarm him, simultaneously landing in the boys wagon as he would slam into it, the wagon flying backward and away from Wayland as he rode on it, grabbing its handle and abruptly shifting it to come to a quick stop, screeching across the street.

“I’ll ask again, we can do this the easy way or the hard way...” Drake uttered, his mother walking to a nearby cafe and taking a seat as the few civilians still in the immediate vicinity began to make their escapes. His mother sat, her legs crossed, watching diligently as to inspect the boy’s performance.

Feeling his weapons being yanked from his possession, Wayland used the momentum of Drake's leap in order supplement his own jump as he landed atop of his cart with a loud thud, allowing him to stay with the Marine Captain and his own weapons. With a grin, Wayland released his hold on the short sword lashed out with a powerful kick in order to send into Drake's torso.

However, he didn't stop there as he pulled the halberd out of the center of the cuffs and twirled the halberd within his hand, building up the momentum as the sound of wind swooshing could be heard. Following this, he performed a rising diagonal slash towards the area the blindspot within Drake's seastone handcuff guard, his lower torso area. Rising from the lower-left area, the very air shifted as if it were being sliced while Wayland aimed to leave a strong gash on his foe.

"Doko!" Wayland said, calling out the name of his technique.

Drake would once again take a deep breath in and then out, feeling each and every particle of water around him in the air, allowing moving fluidly and with great speed and strength as the water in the air aided him in each movement, almost as though they were loosening his body up and allowing each of his body parts safe passage with every move he made.

Drake would clamp the seastone cuffs down on the boy's ankles, grabbing onto the other end of the cuff and swinging him in the same direction in which he swung his halberd, stopping the slice just short of his body as him and the halberd would be blown away with great force if the attack succeeded. Drake would take another deep breath, droplets of water could be heard in his ears as he did so, almost as though the water was speaking to him, advising him, and aiding him in his every endeavor.

As the wagon would come to a stop due to Drakes's actions he would stand upon them and squat his body slightly, placing his left and right arms to his sides in fists in a basic karate stance. He would breath in once again, this time deeper than before, almost as if he was calling each and ever air particle to his location, as he would breath out he would send forth a destructively fast punch, in its wake, a large mass of water and air sent directly at Wayland, moving with immense speed, threatening to bludgeon him were he’d stand.

“Archerfish.” Drake spoke softly as he finished his exhale, breaking stance and clutching his blade in preparation for his next attack.

His mother would sit behind him her eyes glued to the battle, not only watching Drake, but Wayland as well, he eyes narrowing as she watch their moves, a veteran fighter, sword woman and martial artist, if there was anyone you’d want to watch and analyze your battle, it’d be her.

Wayland's eyes widen in surprise at Drake's actions, having his own attack turned against him and being countered in such a way he was unable to properly block. Seeing Drake's fist coming towards him, Wayland leaned back into the attack instead of fighting against the impact of the strike, allowing his body to properly absorb the strike and lessen the overall damage. It was an important tactic he had learned when he was growing up on the streets of Loguetown.

As the large mixture of water and air slammed directly into Wayland, he hopped back and flipped in the air, flowing directly under the attack and gripped the top part of the wooden cart with his free hand. Carrying the momentum transferred from the strike, Wayland pulled downward with great force as he turned his business cart into a makeshift seesaw in order to launch Drake into the sky, figuring his foe wouldn't expect such a tactic and be vulnerable in the sky.