Violent Winds [South Blue Story]

[jinno]

Story Title: Violent Winds

Island Name and Location: Windfall Island, South Blue

Setting Description: Windfall island exists as the pass between two tall mountains. The wind force generated by the land and ocean breezes is amplified by the pass. Unlike most mountainous islands, Windfall is actually a tropical island, and as such enjoys quite the cool off with each passing breeze. The people of the Island have spent years of time researching wind and how to harness it. Windmills dot the landscape providing greatest environment for grain milling in all of the South Blue. The residents have also used their research on wind to become the best manufacturers of specialized sails, because of their highly wind-efficient sails, Marines and other ocean bound groups alike patronize the island.

Main Antagonists:
Dominic Din - Level 4

Din is a former medicinal doctor who was expelled from his island after malpractice. He turned instead to become a crafter of poisons and formed his own criminal crew by poisoning everyone in a tavern and requiring them to join his crew in order to retrieve the antidote. His crew is small, and he has trained them for covert operations.

Player Participants:
Brandon Stage
Fargo Sustavino

If your character is in the South Blue, and you would like to join, PM here or on reddit and I'll give you permission.

Scenario: The mayor of Windfall has fallen ill recently, and the local council has grown weary with anger. Notice had been sent out for doctors to come help. One night toward the beginning of the story the mayor goes into a coma, and the town coffers are pilfered while a vigil is held outside his home. Fingers are pointed quickly, and right at the latest arrivals.

[jinno]

Violent Winds... A tale from the South Blue

It hasn't even been a week... how could I have run out of food this fast?

Brandon Stage was exasperated with himself. He still couldn't believe that after all of his time on the ocean as a travelling physician, that he still hadn't learned how to properly ration food or truly understand navigation. As his stomach gurgled he let out a deep sigh and put a reed in his mouth and just started chewing.

The payout on this better be worth it... Karate Island may have been violent, but at least there was a steady stream of work for me.

The water was oddly calm that night, as he looked up at the moon's waning crescent. In fact the entire 4 days he had been on the sea had been pretty uneventful. No other people, no large fish, just open water and cool breezes. It was an easy sail.

Brandon Stage reached into his napsack, and dug around the collection of medicines, bandages, tools for surgery looking for any scrap of food he could find. He found none. For the fifteenth time that hour he closed the napsack and pulled up the flyer he had been given while he was still at Karate island.

"URGENT: Mayor Sam Sayers of Windfall Island fallen into significant illness." Brandon read alloud, to no one but the empty air. He continued reading glossing over a somewhat extensive list of symptoms before coming to the end "Major Payout to the Doctor that Cures him. THAT'S WHAT I NEED! Money, for food, and supplies, and a boat that can fit more than my body."

He sighed and leaned back onto his napsack. Even though it usually isn't wise to sleep without anchor, the hungry don't usually think wisely. As his eyes closed his boat got close enough to see a dark shoreline, and hovering a few clicks from it the silhouette of a small ship ominously anchored beyond view of the shoreline.

---

Brandon awoke the next morning to a News Coo pecking at his noggin. He pulled a 10 beri note out of his pocket and begrudgingly gave it to the bird as he leaned up and started taking in his surroundings. He looked around and saw that his boat was still in tact, and then he looked over the bow and saw nothing but a sandy beach.

"WHERE THE HECK AM I?!" Brandon shouted as he leaped from the deck of his tiny boat, nested pieces of himself separating and then reconnecting at the peak of the jump.

He surveyed the beach and looked until he saw a tall mountain that ended seemingly just beneath the clouds, and then he turned to the other direction and saw that he was just at the base of another such mountain. He was in awe of just how high the peak was, and he admired it until a voice called out from the beach front.

"Hey! Who are you?"

Brandon turned to the right and saw a none-too-happy looking gentleman yelling at him from the deck of his beach-front home.

"I'm uh... I'm a doctor!" He struck a victorious pose, hefting his giant scalpel into the air light a great warrior.

"Sure you are." Brandon collapsed onto the deck of his ship at the sound of the man's skepticism. "But if you are, I take it you're here to help the Mayor, right?"

"That's right!" Brandon said sitting up. His stomach let out a loud gurgle that even the old man could hear from his deck. "But uh... I'm hungry right now any way I could coax you into giving me some food?"

"There's a restaurant in town. Go there you good for nothing freeloader." The old man said as he walked into his home and slammed the door.

Dejected by the old man's rejection, Brandon sulked to the edge of his ship and jumped off, taking care to tie the ship to a large rock before leaving it behind.

"Hopefully there will be someone in town who can help me make sense of the situation, and point me to the Mayor's house."

[fargomuffin]

Two Days Earlier:

Fargo awoke to the sight of a burnt out lantern and a week old newspaper detailing the exploits of the infamous straw hat Luffy. His small craft wouldn’t be enough to hold him for much longer, he knew that much, and especially if he formed himself a proper crew. Fargo had set out on these waters with the sole intent of becoming a great pirate, six pirating-free months later and he felt his goal would have to wait. It was not much after dawn when Fargo had woken up, and the day was well into morning when he finally decided to stop wallowing and look for an island on which to rest and possibly earn some Beli. The ragged sails had come unfurled, ragged because sails that cheap weren’t meant to be constantly full of wind. The idea of purchasing a new boat passed Fargo’s mind as he used two of his fingers to blow a steady gust into the sail of dismal repair.

If i were to start a crew, thought Fargo, the first person would be a decent shipwright to get me out of this squalid excuse for a boat.

Fargo prepared for the potentially lengthy journey ahead, he reclined, and swiftly opened a bottle of sake he acquired from a merchant not days ago. If there was anything he needed, it wasn’t wind in the air, any day was a proper sailing day for Fargo, but today was exceptional; Fargo, in fact, even considered letting nature do it’s job. The charter Fargo had brought showed a “Windfall Island,” and described it’s conditions as “A tropical island with an intrepid breeze traveling north northwest.” Fargo discerned from both the conditions at hand and the compass on his wrist that he was in fact heading towards this Windfall Island.

Perhaps there would be work there, thought Fargo, and perhaps someone to join my crew.

One day earlier:

The natural breeze coupled with his own wind had lead Fargo safely and quickly to Windfall Island. His boats rotten wood, rotten from lack of proper coating, had crumbled swiftly upon colliding with the dock; lucky for Fargo, the water he had landed in was only waist deep, and he could come ashore. A morose man comfortably in his late forties addressed Fargo’s entrance.

“State yer business here,” barked the man in a gravely tone, “Cause we don want no dealings with shifty merchants or pirates.”

Fargo didn’t much care for this man, possibly for his aggressiveness, or his lawful disdain for pirate kind, “I’m no pirate,” beckoned Fargo optimistically.

“ Fine then, just don’t fuck up the town while yer here.” cried the man,upset that he missed his catch of the day.

Fargo walked up the wooden steps to the town whispering “not yet.”

Fargo sauntered into town, giddy with a sense of stability, a scanty holding of Beli weighed down his pockets, and he realized he would need a job forthwith. Particularly interesting was the local eatery, “Skip’s Sake and Eats!”, but one might miss the name if they weren’t paying much attention. Fargo, more gingerly than usual, coming to terms with his need for work, opened the heavy wooden door to the lively scene within the restaurant. Burly dock workers provided off key harmonies to a gleeful chorus of townspeople all inebriated off their asses.

“Excuse me,” shouted Fargo attempting to compete with the singing townspeople as he approached the counter. “You looking to hire?”

The busty redheaded barmaid at the counter looked at him, perplexed with his forwardness before realizing that they did in fact need a waiter. “We do need a waiter...if that’s what you’re looking for.”

“That seems good,” replied Fargo, wondering how he fell so low as to become a waiter,

“You can start right now!” said the barmaid interrupting his thoughts, “Oh, and I’m Cariah!”

“Pleased to meet you Cariah,” said Fargo, fumbling to put his apron on as to not appear sad and daft to the obviously experienced Cariah.

Not two minutes passed before an annoying patron saw his apron and beckoned to him “Hey waiter,” shouted the man, “we want some frickin service, can we get some!”

Not being one to dissapoint, Fargo gave the man a menu and gradually sunk into the abyss of waitstaffing.

Today:

Fargo rolled out of the inn’s bed and on to the hard floor, not used to sleeping on anything more than a bedroll a few centimeters off the ground. The room he had rented with his salary and tips was nicer that his boat, that was for sure. And while it was small, it was indubitably utilitarian. Fargo put on his apron and exited the inn through the door in his room. And as he was walking to the restaurant he saw a man leaving the heckling he had been through yesterday. Wanting to meet someone else not from here fargo shouted to him, “Hey you!”

[jinno]

"Hey, you!"

Oh no... another one. This has got to be the most untrusting island in the world.

The doctor was startled, and snapped to a stiff, attentive stance. He refused to turn around and be accosted for being there once more. He was a doctor and he was here for a purpose. He didn't have to talk to every commoner in the streets. And so with stiff goose-steps, Brandon continued walking forward until he reached the restaurant.

He walked inside through swinging doors, and found an alluring female host at the front. Brandon was intrigued.

"How many?"

It was surely a love from the first words they shared. And so, gazing into the deep blue eyes of his hostess he gave his reply. "Just me, though I wouldn't object to your company."

She giggled, and Brandon watched her reaction intently. To his great surprise she quickly gained the face of the devil and yelled at him. "Shut up, I'm married. Just come this way."

Depression had never sunk into an individual faster than it hit the young doctor at that very moment. Head hung, he followed the young maid to a small table with two chairs. As he was sitting he took a look at her hands. No ring. He looked to her chest, no necklaces. "Here's your seat, can I get you some tea to drink?"

"Sure that'd be fine." The doctor said, laying his chin on the table and pulling his menu up to read it. He looked up and saw a face he had seen just moments before.

"Hey, you!" Brandon waved at the man.

[fargomuffin]

Fargo entered the restaurant, not recognizing the voice that had beckoned towards him. As he entered cariah said to him, "you see that doctor over there," "yeah, i do," replied fargo, recognizing him as who he met earlier. "The dumbass tried to hit on me!" cackled cariah. Fargo would never understand that girl. He sauntered over to the doctors table. "Hey, I remember you!"

"OH, now you'll respond..." the doctor grumbled before taking a sip of his tea.

"heh, youre hilarious," replied fargo. "you want to see the menu?"

"Huh? You're my waiter, then? Well, sure. What do you reccommend?"

"The shepard's pie's alright." said fargo casually," you here to fix our broken mayor?"

Brandon twirled a scalpel between his fingers. "Yeah, that's what I'm here to try, atleast. There's apparently a big reward for the doctor that can get him back on his feet. Do you know anything about how he became so ill?"

"Townsfolk are blaiming someone they're calling 'the black alchemist', but i just got here." Fargo considered the idea of an evil alchemist, but swiftly dismissed it as stories

"Eh, it's amazing what people miss when they're not especially well trained physicians. The mayor probably had symptoms that went unnoticed, and the people of this town are just writing it off as some omnious alchemy. I'll need to see the Mayor before I can make a diagnosis but alchemy has always been a bit of a sham. Also, I'm not too keen on Shepard's pie, but the Cod with hash sounds delightful."

"Very well then," replied fargo, pretending to be listening intently. Fargo shouted to cariah, "Cod and hash, and two beers!" before sitting down at the doctors table, "so, i heard you came here on a pirate ship,"

"It's not really a pirate ship. It's more of a dinghy. It's slightly larger than my body on the deck and it has a 'cabin'" The doctor quoted the word in the air with his fingers.

"soo, you're a pirate?" replied fargo as he sipped his recently brought beer, "do you have a crew, or even a bounty?
=
"No... I'm a doctor. I travel alone, unfortunately. If I were a pirate I'd be flying a jolly roger. I don't. I'm not sure I'd even want that kind of attention." He sighed, as another waiter brought two mugs of beer to the table. "Cheers, I suppose."

"funny thing really, i waaas thinking of starting a crew myself," said fargo with a deep sigh, "but i've yet to find any adventures worth adventuring." Fargo took antother swig of his pint

"And so your alternative to being an island raiding outlaw with a cutlass and an eyepatch is to whole up on some island and shirk your duties as a bus boy?" The doctor grinned as he took a bit of a swig from his drink as well.

"well, i wouldn't be that kind of pirate. If anything," muttered fargo, "i would want to cause the downfall of the marines!" Fargo cried, jumping onto his chair. "shut the hell up over there," yelled cariah, "you lazy asshole"

"Eh, don't listen that bitch. She claims to be married, but she's not. Just wanted to avoid my attention." Brandon said before downing the rest of his ale in one gulp. "But why do you stop your attention at just the Marines? It's the whole damned Government that the world needs to be rid of."

"THANK YOU" shouted fargo, inebriated from this beer and the 3 before that. "you know... I could use a guy like you on my crew

You any good at fighting?

"Eh..." the doctor started rubbing the back of his neck. "I'm not the strongest fighter in the world, but I can hold my own, I suppose."

"don't worry," said fargo with a wide grin, "i can pick up you're slack. I took down an entire town full of marines once."

The doctor looked at the drunken waiter with some suspicion. The man was certainly large, but a whole town of marines? That was a stretch. "Must've been a small town."

"yukukukukuk, watch this." Fargo extended his arm and opened his palm towards a table of patrons, his fingers began to fade into the air as he calmy said, "Toppu Chickara*" Both the table and the patrons flew off the ground and into the wall. Fargo grinned widely as Cariah charged towards him jaw agape. 'WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?!?!
* gust force

The doctor leapt out of his seat, separating briefly into his nested parts before coming back down. "The hell was that? Why would you hurt people like that?!" The doctor sprinted over to the restaurant patrons who were lying against the wall.

"Im a gust man, i can control air, and don't worry i used a weak blow, they're fine. Moreover, what the hell are you?"

After finding the people were fine, the doctor walked back over to the table. "What am I?" Brandon pondered the question a bit before finally grabbing himself by the head and yanking to the right to expose one of his inner nests. "I ate the Su Su no Mi. I'm a nesting man."

"What the hell," said fargo spitting out beer "you're even wierder than me!" fargo screamed

The doctor dropped himself back onto his body. "Weirder maybe, as useful, I surely doubt."

The hostess, infuriated at the turn of events that transpired, and even moreso by the fact taht she was being ignored grabbed her employee by the ear. "Hey, Fargo. Sweetie. YOU JUST DESTROYED HALF OF THE RESTAURANT."

"Relax, I got this," said fargo attempting to charm his way out of the situation. Fargo stood up, towering over her and patting her head then lifting her up to his level "I got this under control, I'll sweep up later, okayy." he said while placing her down

"OH NO YOU DON'T. THIS IS THE THIRD TIME WE'VE HAD A PROBLEM SINCE YOU STARTED WORKING HERE... AND I ONLY HIRED YOU YESTERDAY." She positioned herself behind the large man and started pushing him toward the door. "YOU'RE FIRED. DON'T COME BACK HERE EVER AGAIN."

He stood there looking down at the barista trying to remove him. "Hey, nesting freak, you wanna go see the mayor" said fargo as he was being pushed out the door by Cariah. The doctor looked around for a moment, as his stomach gurgled. "But... but I haven't eaten yet." And then the barista ran back and grabbed the doctor and heaved him at the giant that had just left. "YOU GET OUT OF HERE TOO."

"sorry about that by the way," murmerd fargo while scratching his hair. "My place is this way, you want to talk there or see the mayor now?"

The doctor stood up and brushed himself off. "May as well do what I came here for. The Mayor's sick, may as well help him out."

"alright then, the office is this way." said fargo pointing up the hill. "see you there i guess." uttered Fargo as he sat down, cross legged 6 feet in the air and proceeded to glide up to the top of the hill.