A Pirate's War

Mon Dec 30, 2019 10:36 pm

Throwing Stones at The Walls of Jericho (A-Rank Mission)

The mug was held between both of Hiroaki’s hands. He looked down at the contents within. The establishments’ lights reflected off of the rum. He usually had stuck with his sake, but recently he had thought to broaden his horizon. He washed his throat down with the rest of the rum that was in the mug. He raised two of his fingers up in the air, a quick beckon for another mug of rum for him to guzzle down. He was at the Chunin where he commonly spent most of his time. The air was buzzing with chatter. Business had been booming as everyone seemed to come to the Chunin to eat. Akihana’s cooking was only getting better over time and her crowd of customers that kept pouring in was a reflection of that.

Hiroaki looked out the window and saw that it was pitch black outside. Time seemed to pass faster and faster these days for him. That seemed to be a good sign all by itself. The general idea was those who were waiting for the day to end and thought the day was progressing slowly were those who were not enjoying their time. ‘I should probably be working around here to keep everything in order’, thought Hiroaki. Akihana was pretty relaxed with the way Hiroaki decided to work around here. She let him do his own thing and let him work when he wanted to. Hiroaki got up from his seat, leaving the drink behind. He headed to the door to welcome people inside in a polite, nodding the head type manner that was in a very Hiroaki fashion.

With the passing of time, Hiroaki eventually left his station to head around back. He looked at the bench he had made Akihana that was still there. Recently he had gone to bring more wood for him to mess around with. The wood was there close by a bunch of tools that could be used to craft with it. Hiroaki sat down thinking of what he could focus his skills on this time around. He took out his notepad and drew out plans for a new kind of bench. Midway through, a voice called out to him, “Ah, there you are”. Hiroaki turned his focus on the pirate known as Lorenzo, his friend.

Lorenzo came up to the bench and sat on it, body spread wide in a relaxed manner. “I was looking all over in the restaurant for ye -- after checking the merchant district of course. Eventually I got fed up and talked to one of the waitresses inside. They said that they had spotted you wandering around back.”, he ranted. Hiroaki looked at the man who continued on with his rant. He wondered why the pirate wouldn’t just tell him what he had wanted from him already. “Wow, it’s not bad back here, yeah? Listen -- oh, this bench is comfy. Could use some padding though.”, he went on. Hiroaki looked at the bottom of the bench thinking on how he could possibly get some cushions.

“Anyway..”, Lorenzo said starting to look uncomfortable for being the only one that had been talking. “I got a task for you. Something like ye never had seen, savvy?”. Hiroaki nodded to the pirate, stepping away from the tools that were sprawn about. He tucked his notepad back into his pocket after writing down to add cushions on it. He put his back to the wall next to the bench and crossed his arms. “What’s going on, Lorenzo?”, he asked. The pirate pulled out a flask and swigged a drink from it before he offered some to Hiroaki. Hiroaki took the flask and took a swig of his own. It was more rum. Though it did taste slightly different from the rum he had been drinking inside the Chunin.

Lorenzo looked at the ground, twiddling his fingers. He hadn’t noticed Hiroaki pushing the flask against his side. The pirate snapped back to reality and took his flask back and without looking at it, he shoved it back inside his vest. “There seems to be some discord among my folks. They say bandits are making outposts along the coast. A way to defend against our fleets and keep all of the land for themselves. The damn bastards know the layout of the land as good as we know the sea. Several captains fear to get into a dispute with the bandits and have talked about setting sail for a new base of operations. As I told you, we stay close to fang to do business amongst each other. Well...There is going to be a new meeting soon amongst us captains and I want to invite you along. I value your advice and well, if it comes down to it, ye sword will do the trick.”

Hiroaki extended his arm to Lorenzo who took it happily. He pulled the pirate up onto his feet and patted him on the back. “I’ll come with you”, replied Hiroaki. He nodded out to the front of the two of them. This was Hiroaki’s way of telling the pirate to lead and he will follow. The pirate nodded to the ground and started to sway his half drunken self towards his intended direction. They stuck to the backroads out of habit, even though they would not find any bandits that could identify them as enemies. Hiroaki was lead to a storage building that must be run by one of the pirate groups Lorenzo was talking about. They entered inside, several groups of people surrounding the giant storage room. In front of each group was their respective captains that lead them.

“Ah, so you came. I thought you were going to be the first to flee this area, Lorenzo”, said one of the captains. Lorenzo made his way to the middle. ‘I suppose none of his men are here as no one was stepping up to him. Lorenzo, did run a small crew too’, thought Hiroaki. Looking at the man that had spoken, Lorenzo huffed. “I’d rather fight than flee, to be most frank, Mortimer”, said Lorenzo. The man known as Mortimer scratched his great white beard, clearly thinking. “I’m getting too old for grand fights like this would be. To top it off, we all have never fought side by side against anything. Anything, Lorenzo. Ye think we have even a remote chance of beating these bandits? They are apart of the same crew.”, stated Mortimer.

Lorenzo pushed forward Hiroaki. “My friend here might have an idea or two. I trust him with my life and my crews.”, said Lorenzo. Hiroaki heard their sides. Heard their worries. What he did not hear or see were the bandits side of things. He circled around, gazing at the small army they had gathered there. They were only a fraction of their full force and they were scared of this enemy that was beginning to gather along the border. “Give me a map of their outposts, a list of numbers, rations and weaponry. I need information.”, started Hiroaki. Men shifted in the background trying to find out if there was something they could provide for him. Hiroaki knew what Lorenzo really wanted however. He side-eyed Lorenzo whose face slightly tilted to the ground in disappointment.

Hiroaki shouted, “What is the code!?” The pirates looked at him unable to supply an answer. They did not know of a code. Mummering of Hiroaki’s craziness took place, mocking even. Hiroaki withdrew his katana and pointed it outward at all of them and no one at the same time. This act of aggression caused some of the pirates to draw their own weapons out in response. One pirate that was the closest to Hiroaki shook in his boots. Hiroaki sneered, “Are you scared? Are you not prepared to die!?”. He coughed into his arm, keeping his one hand with the katana extended outward still. “I lost my fear of death. All I thirst for is my own good adventure and the freedom to not be a side character in it. Lorenzo, told me you all here were the same”, he shouted. Lorenzo looked up at the mention of his name. His disappointment turned into joy, adrenaline through Hiroaki’s words pouring through him.

Lorenzo took over. “AYE! What are we to be scared of some bootlickers. This is our territory! The sea is ours and where we want to be is up to us!”, he shouted. The source of cheering started in the back until everyone joined in. “AYE!”, screamed one. “OFF WITH THEIR HEADS”, screamed another. Even the pirate that had been shaking in front of Hiroaki had been filled with courage. He took out a bottle of liquor from his boot and poured it all over his face as he cheered with the rest of them. Hiroaki raised his blade. “Let us prepare and be off.”, shouted Hiroaki. Everyone cheered in response.

The captains seeing their crew members all riled up had no choice in the matter anymore. No one would follow a captain that was a coward. Mortimer was one of the first to bark up orders to save face. “Get the ships all in order. We need all of our weaponry to be cleaned and in order. In fact, do an inventory check. And for God’s sake, someone give this man a briefing on the bandit’s outposts.” Hiroaki watched all of the pirates scurry about, getting down to business. Shipment was being moved, cutlass sharpened and more. There was still much more than that to be done. Several pirates headed their way to Hiroaki with maps and lists in hand.

Lorenzo, Hiroaki and the several pirates gathered in a corner of the storage house. “My men are already prepared to fight the bandits. I was going to attack them with or without the rest of the captain’s help.”, he said. Hiroaki looked at the man. He respected the crazy bastard. He knew not many people were willing to fight for what they believed in until the end. He looked at the list in front of him. The bandits had good numbers, but still less than what the pirates had reported of themselves. The bandits had better fortification and the weaponry seemed to be equally matched. This fight was winnable, but not without a struggle for sure. “We need something to give us an edge over them. Right now we stand on equal terms and that means we potentially can come at a stalemate and lose a bunch of men.”, said Hiroaki. One of the pirates, a woman crossed her arms.

“It couldn’t hurt to do a bit of recon”, she said. Lorenzo looked at the woman in irritation. “Waiting will only allow them to get more situated, Missy.”, Lorenzo emphasized. Lorenzo smashed his hand on the ground about to rant more. “No. No, she is right, Lorenzo. We need to know more about what is going on before we can act. If we don’t have all of the informa-”, said Hiroaki. Lorenzo wasn’t going to have it. “Before we act? This is coming from you? Like you’re one to talk!”, interrupted Lorenzo. Hiroaki leaned back until his back touched the floor behind him. He coughed out into the air unable to control himself.

“That’s why I’ll be the one to do the reconnaissance. Missy can come with if she feels like it, but no more. We don’t want to get detected.”, said Hiroaki. Lorenzo smacked Hiroaki’s leg in shock. He was worried for Hiroaki, but he wasn’t going to say no to him. He knew he would be a hypocrite for scolding someone for putting their own life on the line. Missy nodded. “I’ll come with you, Hiroaki.”, she stated. She looked between the other pirates near her and whispered something to them. They departed and she stood up. “I’ll just pack a few things and we can be off. I’ll meet you in the front”, she said. Hiroaki nodded to her.

Lorenzo got up without saying a word. He clearly was upset, but wasn’t going to say anything. He shoved his arm under his vest and bent down. He placed his flask of rum on the ground and then walked off. Hiroaki stared at the ceiling for a good five minutes, taking a quick mental break. There was so much going on at once that thoughts of regret started to shift in his mind. Hiroaki pushed it back reminding himself that it didn’t matter at the end. What was done was done and he had his own ghosts haunting him. There bandits were nothing in comparison to what he has to face. Hiroaki got up and grabbed the flask, tugging it under his overcoat and headed to the front entrance.

Missy was there as promised. She wore a bandana over the top of her head to keep her hair back. She had her sword tucked in nicely along the side of her curvy hips. Hiroaki stared into her emerald eyes for a second. “Well?”, asked Missy. Hiroaki dumbly replied, “Well what?”. Missy laughed and slapped Hiroaki on the back. “Well, are you ready?”, she replied. Hiroaki wiped the grogginess out of his eyes. Night was beginning to break. It had to be really early in the morning. Things were going to start up soon, they had to hurry or things might become more difficult for the two of them. Hiroaki nodded at Missy and put a hand out in front of her. She took the lead.

The outposts were a bit further than he had suspected. The bright sun was shining over the land. The two of them had ended up outside one of the outposts in the bushes nearby. A couple of the bandits were dragging a chest full of weapons inside in front of them. Hiroaki took out his notepad along with the map that was given to him. He made many notes on the details of the structure and the way the bandits moved about. The outposts were made out of stone with wood add-ons. He looked at Missy for any input she wanted to make. “Seems like how it was when we first spotted them. They don’t seem to suspect any attack, but they are certainly prepared if they see anything approach off from the distance”, she whispered. Hiroaki nodded to her. ‘She was right. It would be good to disrupt any way they could use to see them coming in advance.’, he thought.

Hiroaki put a finger to his mouth and weaved his hand signs. He turned invisible and walked out to get a better look of things. He spotted a stable attached to the side of the outpost with straw covering the top of it. It was a new add-on and was cheaply made. He looked down the track that was connected to the other outposts. You could hardly see the other outposts that were closest to this one. He came back to Missy and showed himself to her. She blinked several times, refraining from shouting in fright. He took out his notepad ignoring her reaction and wrote a few more things down. “It seems they use some kind of rideable animals to communicate. Fire from torches would be another way, but it seems the view is kinda blocked from the trees and foliage.”, he reported back. Missy nodded to him. “You ready to go back?”, she asked. Hiroaki saw her eyes darting back and forth. ‘She must be getting paranoid’, he thought. He nodded and the two went back to the storage house.

When they got back it was deep into the afternoon. Things around the storage house had gotten quiet again. Mortimer approached the pair of them. “We ordered our crew members to get some rest”, he said. Hiroaki looked past Mortimer’s shoulder to Lorenzo and waved him over once he got his attention. “We got things to report. Go gather the other captains.”, he ordered Mortimer. The old pirate’s face turned red. He was not used to and never planned on getting used to someone ordering him around which was funny since he was about to let the bandits do whatever they wanted. Mortimer, who was about to go off was stopped by Lorenzo who put his hand on the man’s shoulder. “Anything wrong?”, Lorenzo asked. Mortimer stiffened back his anger and replied, “Nothing.” before turning off to gather the rest of the captains.

Lorenzo looked at Hiroaki slightly confused. Hiroaki shrugged to the man not knowing what to say. It wasn’t Hiroaki who was in need of help. Missy could be seen holding back a hard laughter. Hiroaki smiled just a bit. The two of them stopped with their fun before Mortimer was back with the other captain’s in tow. “Well, what is it?”, asked Mortimer. Hiroaki took out his notepad and handed it to the nearest captain to pass around. “The base structure is quite sturdy though the additions they made to it are flimsy at best. They seem to use rideable animals to go from one outpost to the other. If we stop their line of communication, the lot of you can push your forces and cripple the bandits outpost by outpost. They won’t be able to get the chance to reinforce themselves.”, said Hiroaki.

Lorenzo laughed in delight. “Haha, that’s the Hiroaki I know.”, he shouted. Mortimer nodded to them. “Very well. We will go with that plan if the rest agree to it.”, he said. The captains were all in agreement to this course of action. One of the captains spoke up saying, “Who will disrupt their chain of communication?”. Hiroaki was going to say he would go, not believing anyone else would until Missy spoke up, interrupting him. “I will do it”, she said. The captain nodded and the rest with the exception of one returned to their business.

The captain put both of his arms on Missy’s shoulders. “Do not fail me.”, he stated. She stared him right back in the eyes. “I will not fail you, Kizuato”. He glared at Hiroaki in disgust before he turned and left the two of them alone. Hiroaki clenched his fist. Missy grabbed his hand and looked at him with a smile. “Are you going to miss me?”, she asked. Hiroaki’s face flushed. She kissed him on the cheek and departed. Hiroaki was left in a daze. He wasn’t used to people showing affection towards him. He turned to watch her leave.

Lorenzo approached him from behind. “She’s something isn’t she?”, he asked. Hiroaki continued to stare off in the direction she had went. “What’s her story?”, asked Hiroaki. Lorenzo shook his head. “None of us know. Besides, Captain Kizuato of course. His crew won’t say a thing. It’s all so mysterious.”, he said in a dreaded tone. “She’s the most forthcoming one here though. Maybe if you asked her.”, he added. Hiroaki took out that flask he had borrowed and took a swig. He headed after her.

Hiroaki caught up with her halfway. “Hey”, he said. Missy had froze in her tracks. Her hand was clutching a piece of paper. “What do you got there? A story? A map?”, he asked. Hiroaki didn’t know Missy was the type to write stories along her travels like he did. Her ears turned red, even in the dead of night, he could see it. “Go home, Hiroaki. What are you even doing here?”, she asked. He flinched at that comment. ‘What was...I doing here? What was I doing here..”, he thought. He looked up to see her cutlass at his throat. He didn’t say a word, only looked into her emerald eyes. He raised his hands and backed up, walking away without a word. She let him go and continued on.

Hiroaki turned invisible and followed her from behind at a distance. She went down to the outpost they had visited. The bandits there greeted her warmly. “I’m being followed”, she said. The bandits used shouted to one another and a group of them spread out looking for Hiroaki. She must had remembered he could turn invisible. She went inside the outpost at the bottom and headed up the stairs inside. Hiroaki climbed along the side of the outpost to the third floor window. He entered through the window and waited. This was the top floor and the floor he expected Missy to show up at. She placed the letter there and muttered, “Sorry, Hiroaki”. Hiroaki read over the letter without touching it. The letter read, “This is the last time I work for you. Kill the son of a bitch, Kizuato. They are raiding tonight. Send your riders. From Misty”.

He raised his head in shock. ‘Misty?’, he thought. He watched the young woman head towards the window he entered from. “Goodbye, Hiroaki”, she said sadly. She somersaulted out of the window, landing on the ground below. He didn’t know what Kizuato had done, but he couldn’t let Lorenzo die. The pirate had made a promise to him that he had expected him to keep. He tore up the letter and exited through the window as well. The bandits were starting to come back, giving up their search for Hiroaki. He grabbed one of the torches attached to the outpost and threw it onto the stable. The whole stable was burning at a rate beyond repair. The animals would be burned with them or the flames would incinerate their restraints and they will run free.

His work was completed. ‘Should I find Misty?’, he thought. He shook his head. She made it clear that he was to be gone. He thought about the pirates who would be attacking along the coast soon. ‘That storage house was used for their base of operations and a place to stow crates to trade. Surely, there would be some goods leftover there free for the taking’, he thought. He headed back to the storage house that was there. It was still dark out and everything was quiet from where he was, but he felt unsettled. Death seemed to cling to the air. He entered the storage house. Inside there were a few crates full of miscellaneous goods.

Luck seemed to be on Hiroaki’s side. The pirates must have thought that if they were to die, they wouldn’t let the bandits get all of their treasure. The storage was filled with unguarded wealth. Or so he thought. “Who goes there?”, a voice asked from above. Hiroaki was still invisible, but the door must have alerted them. Boots landed on the ground level, a torch raised. “I know ninjutsu. Come out or things will get ugly”, said the pirate. Hiroaki went behind the man and slit his throat. The pirate’s body fell to the ground, a pool of blood encircling him.

Hiroaki grabbed a bag and stuffed them as best he could. There was no way he would be doing all of this work for free. He picked up his loot and headed for the door. He trailed his way back to the Chunin. A bundle of floating treasure, wandering the streets. If anyone saw it, hopefully they would be too scared of it being cursed to make him waste his energy in fighting them off. He made it back to the Chunin with only a few witnesses in sight that hadn’t bothered to do anything out of fear like he thought would happen.

Turning visible again, he went through the back of the restaurant and put his bag of goods there. He decided he would go to the merchant district another time to redistribute the goods that he had stolen as usual. He sat down on the bench out back and drank the last of the rum from the flask he had. He coughed up a storm in the process. “Damn, illness.”, he muttered. He looked up at the moon. It was full tonight. ‘I can take whatever the hell I want and I don’t owe anyone a damn thing.’, he thought before his mind drifted to Misty.

[exit]

Claiming:
4017/400=10 stats
Genjutsu Spec (4k WC Req)
Reward: 4800 Ryo, 10 AP

Tue Dec 31, 2019 9:27 am

Approved

A Pirate's War

A Pirate's War

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