The Pillar of Autumn

Looming Bundle of Doom
"Haki?" a young Veno pondered, sitting about a lone tree stump situated about a forest.

"Aye, Haki. It's what makes the job for carpenters like us much easier," barked Bernard, "pay close attention now; as you should know by now, I dislike having to repeat myself."

Taking in a deep breath, the large grizzly wolf mink stood motionless, focusing his energies toward enhancing his perception. His eyes turned red, and after a brief twitch of his lids, he turned his head in the direction of the forest. "There. I've found just the right one."

Though confused beyond belief, Veno opted to follow the wolf nonetheless. Much to his surprise, Bernard had led him to an oak; one which was noticeably smaller than the others around.

"This is it," Bernard explained, touching his hand to the bark, "all living things, even trees such as this one possess haki. With a little training, you'll be able to pick the good ones from the bad."

"What's so good about this one?"

"You won't be able to tell just yet for yourself, but this tree has a certain energy emanating from within. It may look smaller than the others, and perhaps to you much less worthy of constructing a hull with; but in actuality, it's far more durable than the others."

Bernard proceeded to chopping his arm through the other trees, causing them to fall over. When he applied the same to the smaller oak, it managed but a simple cut. "See?"

Veno was at a loss for words.

"We'll take this one back with us." Coating the bulk of his right arm with haki, Bernard offered more force into his swing, enabling him to sever the oak from the ground.

---

With his hand shaped into an axe, Veno ran it through a tree, severing it cleanly from the beach. He began to carve and shape the log into a plank immediately afterward. The Nimbus was docked upon the coast of an unnamed island; the Veno Pirates had made an abrupt stop to gather resources, namely in the form of food. While the other members of the crew were out doing their thing, it was Veno's responsibility as the crew's shipwright to ensure that the Nimbus was in tiptop form, especially after all the damage she had sustained in recent battles. Still, most would have considered the amount of work he had achieved in the past hour quite worthy of praise, given he was the only one working on the ship.

Taking the planks under his arm, Veno walked them over to a pile he had been working on, when suddenly, he broke into a series of coughs. Unable to withstand them, he turned his head in the opposite direction, so that the blood spewing from his throat would fail to reach the wood. Instead, it fell in large sums into the sand.

Although Yosef was not doing any particular work on the ship, he was organizing his recently purchased supplies following his trip to Silk Bay. However, he had heard a severe coughing noise from closer to the ship, leading him to quickly approach the source of the sound with herbs in hand.

Much to his surprise, Veno was the source of the noise. Taking a brief look before approaching him further, he noted that blood was spilled on the sand. It was undoubted this was a severe case. "Veno!" Yosef shouted, irrespective of the supposed hierarchy he was meant to follow. "You're in a terrible condition. Lie down immediately, I need to diagnose you and prevent these symptoms from getting worse!"

"Oi, piss off, Doc. I got work ta do," Veno coughed, spitting more blood into the sand. Shaking it off, he went to walk off, yet something within his chest gave way and he found himself falling onto his knees. Admitting defeat, the Public Enemy sat with his arse to the sand, rummaging a thick cigar to his mouth and lightning it with the flicker of his thumb and index finger, which provided him with ample enough a flame to spew smoke from.

"Fuckin' 'ell, alright fine, just make this quick." He relished the sweet flavor of tobacco as it traversed his senses.

Promptly removing the tobacco from his mouth, he sighed. "I can't have you interrupting my diagnosis with tobacco." He placed his palms around Veno's lungs, pressing downwards. He noticed that Veno reacted with pain. Combined with his coughing, and the blood being released from said coughing, he could only come to one conclusion.

"Veno, while I cannot confirm it as of yet, I believe you possess Lung cancer." Yosef said with a grim tone.

"Cancer?" Veno repeated, attempting to make reason out of the words. But he simply couldn't get himself to care. Not now, at least. "Fuck that, I don't got the time to worry about somethin' like that." Wiping the trace of blood from his lip, Veno stood up, lacing another cigar to his mouth like nothing had ever happened. And off to work on the Nimbus he went.

"V-Ve...No, nevermind." Yosef sighed, he knew that despite his words Veno wouldn't listen. He was too far in this dangerous game to buck out now. The problem was something else. Though he wouldn't dare speak it to anyone.

The Pillar of Autumn
A man took a deep breath, followed by a yawn, rubbing his eyes in a struggle to keep himself awake. His bait stayed in the waters of an enormous pond, as he adjusted his placement on the seat, lazily placing the fishing rod on his lap and holding it with little effort with his hand. And when he least expected it, the bait was a success! A fish had taken a bite, and began dragging the bait down with it, and the entire rod with it, sinking it into the pond. "M-...My bait! My rod!" The man screamed, panicking as he saw his fishing rod slowly sink deeper, and so he quickly jumped after it, hoping to retrieve his fishing rod and get the fish, even if it means doing so bare-handed.

In the meantime, the people passing by only took a second glance at him, before continuing on their way, choosing to ignore the man as he rose back up from the pond, drenched from top to bottom, gasping for air after being underwater for approximately five minutes, getting back his fishing rod, but also returning with the dreaded fish who dragged it down, carrying the dog-sized fish with menacing fangs on his shoulder, as it continued moving, attempting to escape "Phew..." The man let out a sigh of relief, applying pressure with his arm around the fish's neck, shattering its spine and killing it, placing it on the ground, removing his top and squeezing the water out of him, revealing a row of vicious scars on his back and chest, looking akin to claws, but also very old, atleast a decade so.

The man, Alfred Alvar, put his shirt back on, and carried the fish with his equipment back home, successfully catching another meal. He passed through the streets, the houses almost identical in the neighborhood, with only subtle differences between one another, but Alvar found his residence with ease, identifying it by the worn out door's damages, seeming as if it was repaired hastily, but was more than enough.

"Dear, you jumped in the pond again?" A woman, Millia, asked her husband, making it clear this was a recurring event.

"They always go for the bait when I let my guard down, I can't do anything about it!" Alvar replied, attempting to justify his actions "But don't worry, this one was wanted for eating all the smaller fish! Apparantly it snuck somehow from the ocean. I'll get a nice price for it.".

Millia sighed "One of those days you're going to lose your arm, I swear...".

"That only means more excuses to get pampered!" Alvar said, sporting a proud grin, as if his own laziness was a source of inspiration for himself. But it was ironic, he refused to join his father in the Marines, and even refused an entire life of fighting, reducing himself to simply taking any task available on the Tariland Island, becoming essentially everyone's errand boy, and still, he kept and valued what his father taught him and finds himself getting into physical confrontation, be it with people or beasts.

"Dad's home!" A child cried out, running from inside the house, followed by his younger sister, running and wrapping the arms around their father's legs, despite his pants still being wet "What did you get today?" The boy enthusiastically asked his father.

"Well, Jacky, I punched a sea beast today." Alvar proudly told his son of his ventures, showing off his catch "Look, it's teeth are like knives!".

And finally, an old dog exited the house, walking up to Alvar and resting down near him. The canine, being of a breed resembling wolves, was missing its right eye and ear, as if some attack simultaneously took both out, in addition to a limp in its front, right leg, forcing the dog to walk slowly.

"Ah, how are you today, boy?" Alvar said to his pet, giving it the attention it wanted and petting it on the head "Good job guarding the place again.".

And that was when the warning bell within the center of town suddenly began to chime.

"It's them!"

"The Public Enemy is coming!"

"We're doomed!"

Chaos erupted. What was once a closely knit community became a free-for-all, all within a matter of seconds. Men and women ran every which way, seeking shelter under the insanity of the pressure. Pushing commenced; children were left behind, homes made instantly vacant. But they quickly realized their efforts were in vain --for the sighting of the Veno Pirates' jolly roger grew nearer by the second.

All hope was lost. Deranged decisions were taken, the likes of which could not be judged by those whom were not present within the center of the mayhem. Suicide became the most profound alternative to happiness; many a civilian took the life of a loved one for their own betterment.

"A quick death is most favorable!" a man screeched, his sobbing nearing the uncontrollable, "compared to what that man'll do to you, it's the better option!" Time playing against him, the man chased around his own son, slitting him by the throat before putting the blade to his own neck. With a single glance toward the sky, he took the final course of action of his life.

Aboard the Nimbus, the emerald mane of the tyrant who beckoned by the notoriety of the "Public Enemy" flocked with the ensuing breeze. Den Den Mushi in hand, Veno gazed toward the island before him with golden eyes. Eyes that were still, eyes that held within them no mercy.

"She's in sight-" he exclaimed, before his words were cut off by a devilish cough, "d-don't nobody else git off 'round 'ere. Ye ain't needed!" In a manner of speech only his crewmates would comprehend, Veno expressed his intent on stepping foot upon the island alone.

Alvar himself was overcome with intense fear and dread at the news "Millia, take the kids and hide in the bunker!".

"You're not honestly going to fight them are you?!".

"Of course not! I'm distraction." Alvar said "There's nothing valuable on this island of ours. Even if they stole all our belonging and money, it'll be nothing compared to grander places. Especially for the likes of them. They're here for me, I'm sure of it.".

"Oh, no..." Millia said, realizing what he meant "It's all your father's fault...".

"We aren't discussing this further!" Alvar said "Go, now!" He yelled, making his point clear, grabbing the deadly fish he caught and equipment "Take care of 'em, boy." Alvar said to his dog, who could only yell out a whimper in response, before Alvar dashed away, and his family hid beneath the house, in a steel bunker, hidden behind the wall of their basement, where they would hopefully remain safe.

As the bottom of his boot met with the soft soil of the island, Veno was met instantaneously by cannon fire. Multiple rounds of it, arranged in a never ending chain of explosions that sounded off one after the other. Yet as the smoke slowly dissipated, the silhouette of his large frame was still visible, his every step causing the very earth beneath to tremble in fear.

Smoke from his cigar streamed out from his mouth, and he plainly admired his opposers with tired, golden eyes. He caught the next round of cannon fire with his chest, putting on display the fact that it essentially had no effect on him.

Stopping as he neared the center of town, he caught a cannon ball with his bare hand and held it there for several seconds. "I'm lookin' fer a man by the name of Glave," he chimed, throwing his arm back, "Glave Alvar."

Veno hurled the ball toward a house in the distance, watching as an explosion sounded off and caused it to topple over, forcing many civilians to scurry and flee as a result. "Bringem' 'ere to me now and I'll spare the rest of ya! Drag one of yer own to me and I promise I won't even bother touchin' any of ya!"

"G-...Glave?" The people began to whisper amongst themselves. They haven't heard that name in years, even from Alvar himself, but they knew what Veno wanted. "He wants Alfred Alvar! The son of Glave!" One of the citizens shouted "If we bring him, they'll let us live!" Soon the people riled up, agreeing on sacrificing Alvar for the sake of everyone's lives.

"Where's Alvar?!" The people began yelling, frantically looking around for Alvar, their voices and fears growing as they could not find him.

"I'm here!" However, they all stopped at once, looking over as the man chose to reveal himself, walking among the people as they cleared a path for him, panting from the panicked run he gave to reach the pirates' location "You...want me don't you? Well, here I am! But, if it's my father, then I'm sorry to tell you, he's not here, so you can leave if that's the case!" He shouted, and despite his stern look, his body sweat and shivered, showing he wasn't completely composed.

Veno looked plainly as his target revealed himself out in the open. He hadn't expected it to be so easy, to say the least. Hell, he expected much more of a fight; thinking about all the buildings he was prepared to crush, all the lives he was willing to take... the sheer thought made him feel somehow cheated.

"What the fuck?" he finally said aloud, "yer just gonna show yerself to me like that, huh? Where's the fun in that?"

He walked forward, until he stood before Alvar and so that he was consumed by his shadow. Looking down at him, he went to touch Alvar's chin as if he were a little boy, and tilt it to examine his face.

"How the fuck am I supposed to know yer really the one I'm after, eh?"